The Wall Street Journal blog has a post about the recession and how it is affecting beer sales and drinking habits:
Heineken sales sank 18% from the previous year in grocery, convenience and drug stores during the two-week period ended July 5, followed by Budweiser at 14%. Corona Extra sales dropped 11%, while Miller Lite declined 9% and Bud Light fell 7%. Coors Light sales held up better, falling less than 1% from a year ago.
Meanwhile, sales of “subpremium” beers including Busch, Natural Light and Keystone posted “substantial gains.”
Although I have not “sunk” to the subpremium beers mentioned, my brother Danny and I have started drinking more end-of-the-cooler, back-of-the-store favorites like PBR and Shaffer because they hit closer to the feel-good, summertime, Drink American values we have adopted since Anheuser-Busch became foreign owned. They sit on my beer fridge shelves next to a variety of American craft brews.
As for the figures above, my understanding of why Coors Light only sank 1% is because you can’t sink much lower than Coors Light (at a recent barbecue, I passed on Coors Light and opted for an O’Doul’s Amber, which is much tastier).
Have you changed your drinking habits based on the economy (or any other reason)?
WSJ Via Lager Heads
