• March 31, 2009

Consumers traded down and drank more of their spirits, wine and beer at home last year, slowing the industry's overall growth, confirms Handbook Advance 2009 from The Beverage Information Group.

Last year's growth came from off-premise consumption of value-priced sprits, wine and beer - a reversal of the trend toward premium brands that's been driving growth in recent years.

Imported beer and wine took the largest hits. Beer imports' growth dropped from 12% in 2006 to 2.8% in 2007 to a 1.2% decline last year. Among the domestic categories, lights remained a bright spot, growing 2.2% to represent 51.8% of the total beer market.

Wine imports posted an aggregate decline of 1.7%, reflecting the economy, the weak value of the U.S. dollar and a grape surplus in Australia. However, there were "pockets of positive momentum" among smaller importing countries like Argentina, Chile and New Zealand, according to the group. --Karlene Lukovitz