MORE CONSUMERS EMBRACE WINE AS CORE DRINKERS OUTDO MARGINALS
U.S. wine drinkers are maturing more with every sip of wine as they evolve into increasingly cultured consumers. In an attempt to better understand U.S. wine drinkers, the Wine Market Council has released its annual survey of nearly 2,000 consumers as conducted by Merrill Research.
The thesis of the study is simple: more people are drinking wine today than ever before. One of the milestones of 2006 involved the U.S. surpassing Germany and taking the third spot in global table wine consumption. And, as many of you know, the U.S. is set to overtake France in the next five years as the world's largest wine market, followed by Italy. Let’s take a look at what’s going on.
Wine consumers who drink at least one glass per week, dubbed “core consumers,” drink 87% of wine in the U.S. market and have managed to outnumber those who drink less frequently. This increase in “core drinkers” marks the evolution of wine consumption in the U.S. as wine becomes more a part of everyday life.
Since 2000, the number of core wine drinkers has grown 76%. Core wine drinkers now make up 17.4% of all alcohol beverage drinkers, as compared to 13.7% in 2005. “Marginal drinkers,” on the other hand, are 17% of the wine drinking population versus 19% in 2005. (Marginal consumers typically drink wine less than once a week.)
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Out of the estimated 70 million total wine drinkers, 36.7 million, or 51%, are now core consumers, while 34.3 million, or 49%, fit in the marginal wine drinker category.
In the past, the marginals always had the upper hand, but today’s core consumers lead the way by consuming 87% of wine sold by volume in the U.S.
Why the switch? For one thing, wine drinkers that previously fell in the “marginal” category are drinking more wine, making them “core consumers.” Also, there has been an increase in male drinkers starting at a younger (although legal) age.
Wine is taking drinking occasions away from beer and spirits, leading more people to make the switch. The Merrill poll showed that 12% of wine drinkers who said they had increased their wine consumption in the past year had done so after switching from beer/spirits to wine. Beer and spirits consumption has fallen 19% since 2000 according to the survey, although that trend is moderating. Beer and spirits drinkers jumped to 26.8% of all drinkers from 24.7% in previous studies.
We can’t help but think that reported health benefits from drinking wine has encouraged more people to make the switch. Another helping factor? Young people are loving wine.
Millennials have played a huge hand in wine industry growth. Out of the group, 32% of core drinkers said they had increased their wine drinking in the past year.
"The Millennial generation, now entering young adulthood, is exhibiting the same receptivity to wine that leading edge Baby Boomers did more than 30 years ago," said John Gillespie, president of the Wine Market Council.
Here are some other interesting facts released by The Wine Market Council earlier this year:
People in the suburbs (51%) are more likely to drink wine than city folks (31%), and more college grads (40%) drink than post-grads (24%). Core drinkers make an average income of $78,000 while marginal drinkers make about $69,300 a year.
Also, more people are drinking wine in casual chain restaurants like P.F. Chang’s and Macaroni Grill– from 44% of core drinkers in 2003 to 58% in 2005. With an increase of disposable incomes, more people are eating out and are not afraid to spend a buck or two.
The thesis of the study is simple: more people are drinking wine today than ever before. One of the milestones of 2006 involved the U.S. surpassing Germany and taking the third spot in global table wine consumption. And, as many of you know, the U.S. is set to overtake France in the next five years as the world's largest wine market, followed by Italy. Let’s take a look at what’s going on.
Wine consumers who drink at least one glass per week, dubbed “core consumers,” drink 87% of wine in the U.S. market and have managed to outnumber those who drink less frequently. This increase in “core drinkers” marks the evolution of wine consumption in the U.S. as wine becomes more a part of everyday life.
Since 2000, the number of core wine drinkers has grown 76%. Core wine drinkers now make up 17.4% of all alcohol beverage drinkers, as compared to 13.7% in 2005. “Marginal drinkers,” on the other hand, are 17% of the wine drinking population versus 19% in 2005. (Marginal consumers typically drink wine less than once a week.)
.
Out of the estimated 70 million total wine drinkers, 36.7 million, or 51%, are now core consumers, while 34.3 million, or 49%, fit in the marginal wine drinker category.
In the past, the marginals always had the upper hand, but today’s core consumers lead the way by consuming 87% of wine sold by volume in the U.S.
Why the switch? For one thing, wine drinkers that previously fell in the “marginal” category are drinking more wine, making them “core consumers.” Also, there has been an increase in male drinkers starting at a younger (although legal) age.
Wine is taking drinking occasions away from beer and spirits, leading more people to make the switch. The Merrill poll showed that 12% of wine drinkers who said they had increased their wine consumption in the past year had done so after switching from beer/spirits to wine. Beer and spirits consumption has fallen 19% since 2000 according to the survey, although that trend is moderating. Beer and spirits drinkers jumped to 26.8% of all drinkers from 24.7% in previous studies.
We can’t help but think that reported health benefits from drinking wine has encouraged more people to make the switch. Another helping factor? Young people are loving wine.
Millennials have played a huge hand in wine industry growth. Out of the group, 32% of core drinkers said they had increased their wine drinking in the past year.
"The Millennial generation, now entering young adulthood, is exhibiting the same receptivity to wine that leading edge Baby Boomers did more than 30 years ago," said John Gillespie, president of the Wine Market Council.
Here are some other interesting facts released by The Wine Market Council earlier this year:
People in the suburbs (51%) are more likely to drink wine than city folks (31%), and more college grads (40%) drink than post-grads (24%). Core drinkers make an average income of $78,000 while marginal drinkers make about $69,300 a year.
Also, more people are drinking wine in casual chain restaurants like P.F. Chang’s and Macaroni Grill– from 44% of core drinkers in 2003 to 58% in 2005. With an increase of disposable incomes, more people are eating out and are not afraid to spend a buck or two.
posted at 1:05 PM
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