Market development of alcoholic beverages

The market of alcoholic beverages continues to grow, but the development is ambivalent: more and more people state that they want to reduce their alcohol consumption or have already done. This is a new opportunity for the market: Now fruity and light alternatives are on the rise, which taste fresh and fruity and don´t affect well-being.

Whether at dinner, parties or major events, alone or with friends: there are many opportunities to drink alcohol. There is a suitable product category for every occasion - from wine to beer to pure alcohol or mixed as a classic or trendy long drink or cocktail. Alcoholic beverages are the trend, and according to statista.com, the global market for alcoholic beverages is expected to grow by 3.5 percent per year between 2020 and 2023.

Source: https://www.statista.com/outlook/10000000/100/alcoholic-drinks/worldwide

Beer globally leads the market

For years and from a global perspective, the most product launches for alcoholic beverages - from one volume percentage of alcohol – are beer: In 2019, 40.5 percent of new alcoholic beverages worldwide accounted for the malt beverage, followed by wine with 15.84 percent, Alcopops 12.71 percent as well as liqueur (6.15 percent), whiskey (5.48 percent), cider (4.0 percent) and vodka (3.18 percent). In addition and descending order new products for gin, brandy, brandy, dark rum, other spirits, white rum and tequila were brought onto the market.

Source: GNPD Analysis, Mintel

Germany is launching more wine

There are sometimes striking differences in the individual countries: For example, in 2019 the top 3 product launches in Europe were beer with 36.87 percent, followed by wine with 20.05 percent and liqueur with 8.24 percent, especially in Germany wine leads first with 43.8 percent.
In second place are the German Alcopops with 14.7 percent, in third place is beer with 13.04 percent. In the USA, on the other hand, beer had the lead in the product launches from 2019, with 41.5 percent, while wine accounted for 31.58 percent and Alcopops for 12.35 percent.

In the United States, craft beer breweries are still on the rise: the number of craft beer breweries in the United States has increased from 1,511 to around 7,000 between 2007 and 2019, and this trend continues.

Source: Mintel, https://www.beveragedaily.com/Article/2019/01/03/State-of-the-industry-What-s-to-come-for-alcohol-in-2019

Major events and weather influence consumption

The entire alcoholic beverages market in the UK also grew by 4.4 percent to £ 46.9 billion in 2018. Beer also led the rankings in terms of sales.Experts make an exciting connection between the weather and major events and beer consumption during a year: Mintel attributes this strong growth from 2018 to the FIFA World Cup and largely sunny weather and points out that significant growth is not expected for the following year without such remarkable events. According to Mintel, the beer market grew from £ 16.4 billion to £ 18.5 billion in 2013 to 2018 - an increase to £ 22.8 billion is expected by 2023. Wine, on the other hand, has fallen behind somewhat and was only able to post moderate increases in 2018.

Source: Executive Summary Alcoholic Drinks Review UK from Mintel, February 2019

The market is growing, but changing

Alcoholic drinks are becoming more and more diverse in their varieties and flavours, and this is particularly popular with younger people. Around a third of European consumers surveyed, aged 18 and over, say they are open to beer with cocktail flavours such as Piña Colada or Mojito.
Why is that? Because people today are increasingly looking for new, exciting taste experiences - and at the same time, new flavours and taste combinations are also conquering the market in the form of ready-to-drink mixed drinks.

Source: "Flavor Focus: Alcoholic Beverages", Regina Haydon, Mintel, May 2018

Light is more

There is a trend worldwide towards lighter alcoholic beverages: Globally, people attach increasing value to health and conscious enjoyment - and this trend has already spilled over to the beverage industry and thus also to the alcoholic beverage sector. Various surveys indicate that consumers tend to want to reduce their alcohol consumption. According to Mintel's Executive Summary Alcoholic Drinks Review UK 47 percent of UK consumers say that they have already reduced alcohol consumption in the past twelve months.

This trend is also clear in the USA: While the majority – 85 percent - of the population drinks alcohol from the age of 22 years, 21 percent of consumers state that they have drunk less alcohol in the past year. The main drivers for abstinence from alcohol are improving health and saving money. Especially the very young consumers between the ages of 22 and 24 also stated that they wanted to stay fit and efficient for the requirements in the world of work and therefore enjoy less alcohol.

Consumers are open to new things

At the same time, there is an increasing number of consumers who are willing to try new alcoholic products: Most consumers in the United States don´t consider themselves on "favourite products". Experts see the solution in creating specific products for specific drinking opportunities. It is now important for brands to meet the increasing need for lighter and "healthier" products. This is possible, for example, if the drink contains less or no alcohol at all - such as non-alcoholic beer - and also scores with health benefits - for example through less sugar or the addition of antioxidants.

In any case, the market in the United States has continued to increase significantly in recent years: From 2014 to 2019, sales grew from around $ 212 billion to around $ 250 billion.

Source: "Alcoholic Beverage Drinking Occasions", US, Mintel, September 2019

AUSTRIA JUICE: Your partner for alcoholic beverages

AUSTRIA JUICE offers all ingredients for an almost infinite variety of flavours for alcoholic beverages: from your own fruit wines and ciders to alcoholic bases to varied flavours, juice concentrates and compounds - and this combined with the expertise in the area of recipe development for ready-to-drink beverages, mix-drinks or mixers such as tonic or herbal water, ginger ale and bitters. We would be happy to advise you!

CONCLUSION:

The market development for alcoholic beverages continues to increase worldwide - but it is changing. The trend is towards alcohol-reduced or non-alcoholic versions of popular classics such as beer, spirits or wine. Flavours and taste become more versatile and creative with craft beer, fruit wines and RTD cocktails - and the bottles can now be filled with health-promoting ingredients.
The “favourite drink” that is suitable for every occasion no longer exists: it is advisable to offer consumers the right drink for every occasion.