Booze Business | A blog dedicated to the business of spirits and wine

Drinking in America

August 21, 2012 No Comments

Gallup just released their annual survey of US drinking patterns. Earlier this summer, NPR published the results of a study on where and how Americans spent money on booze. Let’s put the pieces together.

Who drinks?

Pretty much unchanged from the past, Gallup reports that two-thirds (66%) of Americans drink alcohol, consuming just over 4 drinks a week.

Last year the number was 64%; the same in 1992 and 1982. The earliest measure reported was in 1939 with 58% alcohol drinkers. For decades, then, two thirds say they drink alcohol. With roughly 200 million Americans of legal drinking age, that means there are 132 million drinkers.

Marketing is Dead – Long Live Marketing

August 13, 2012 No Comments

Harvard Business Review blog had an article by Bill Lee, President of the Lee Consulting Group called Marketing is Dead. The thoughts and ideas are worth sharing.

His view of marketing is that the “traditional” definition and tools are no longer totally appropriate to this new environment. Let’s take a look at his evidence, which consists of three areas.

First, as Mr. Lee puts it, the “buyer’s decision journey” has changed from passive information coming to consumers (amidst tens of thousands a day) to interactive information gathering requested by consumers. The traditional journey, which begins with awareness and familiarity, continues, but now those decision steps are based on Internet searches, word-of-mouth, consumer reviews and other people to people efforts.

Tomato or Tomahto – it’s now a wine

August 6, 2012 1 Comment

Buffalo Trace Newsletter reprinted a story about a tomato wine made in Quebec. So, I decided to check it out.
The vintner (tomatoes grow on vines, right?) is named Pascal Miche and he has sold 34,000 bottles a year for the past 3 years. In North America, he can legally call his product “wine.”
He produces a dry wine and a mellow wine that supposedly is close in taste to Pineau des Charentes from a family recipe that’s been a secret for four generations. It’s called Omerto and sells for about $25 for a 375 ml.
He’s looking for distribution in the US and some countries in Western Europe like France. Good luck with that, especially since only alcohol beverages made from fermented grapes can be called wine in France.
Here’s a short video on the wine. (You’ll have to click on the link to watch it on YouTube. The video is from AFP, Agence France-Presse.)