Spirits are low in the alcohol biz

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Boozemakers are about as content as someone arriving at a wedding to find out that it’s dry. Alcohol sales are slumping, as many young people trade tipsiness for non-alcoholic drinks and become stoners instead proclaim themselves “California sober.” The teetotalism trend is fueled by rising health consciousness, more studies showing the harms of even moderate drinking, weight loss drugs reducing drinking desires, and tightening budgets. According to Gallup, only 54% of Americans said they consumed alcohol last year, the lowest since the analytics company began polling in 1939. And surveys from abroad suggest the trend is global. To add insult to injury, President Trump’s trade wars have led to Canadian boycotts and many Europeans opting for domestic drinking options, stymying the flow of drink across borders. Iconic brands feel the imbibing recession As the global blood-alcohol content level hits an all-time low, alcohol companies worldwide are facing some sobering realities: Global wine-sipping dropped 12% between 2020 and 2024 to the lowest rate in over six decades, as weather events impacted production and drove up prices. Several California wineries shuttered this year, while a recent government survey showed that 20% of French vineyards were considering closing. Sales for the British spirits juggernaut Diageo—which owns Guinness, Smirnoff, and Johnnie Walker—dropped by almost 3% in the first half of this fiscal year. Jim Beam paused distillation for a year at its flagship facility in Kentucky amid a global bourbon glut. And MGP, the Kentucky-based distiller for famed brands like Bulleit, saw its sales drop 24% last year as bourbon purveyors cut production. Heineken is cutting 6,000 jobs after selling 1.2% fewer liters of beer in 2025 than in the previous year. Investors betting on booze are in the red, too. The market cap of the world’s top publicly listed alcohol producers was down 46% last fall from its peak in June 2021, according to Bloomberg. But some drinks are thriving alongside sobriety…with US sales of cheap tequila and premixed cocktails growing in the past year. Plus, while people are drinking less at home, spending at bars was up 4% in January from the same time last year, according to data from the Bank of America Institute.