Gen Z re-discovers alcohol?
A report in today’s Financial Times (Thursday, July 3) headlined “Gen Z raises a toast in test to industry narrative” notes that a recent study challenges the view that big alcohol brands’ decline is driven by abstinence among the young.
An IWSR survey of more than 26,000 people across the 15 largest alcoholic drinks markets found 73 per cent of Gen Z respondents — people of legal drinking age to 27 — had consumed alcohol in the previous six months, compared with 66 per cent two years ago.
The findings call into question the assumption that Gen Z has turned its back on drinking en masse. Rather, the results suggest lower consumption among young people was driven by the cost of living crisis and not an embrace of abstinence.
Other findings from the survey include:
- Drinking alcohol increased across every generation over the past two years, except a small reduction among baby boomers.
- The share of Gen X (those aged 44-59) that said they had drunk alcohol in the past half year rose from 77 per cent in 2023 to 79 per cent this year.
- The figures for millennials (28 to 43) rose from 79 per cent to 83 per cent.
- Six per cent of baby boomers said that they were actively drinking more, compared with 29 per cent of Gen Z respondents.
- Forty-two per cent of Gen Z consumers said that members of their social circle were drinking more, compared with two years ago, IWSR found.
One can only guess at the impact on the kombucha industry. Certainly, hard kombucha companies will be pleased. These findings will be music to ears of Brewers Association CEO Bart Watson, who we noted in May, is looking for concrete data on alcohol consumption trends.
