Gen Z is only 4% of alcohol buyers in the U.S., while Gen X and Boomers drive 70% of sales. Brands should stop chasing young drinkers and protect their core older customers, then add premium RTD, non-alcoholic, and THC products as side bets.
Welcome to the Drink Up Podcast Daily Industry Brief. The real story this week: the U.S. alcohol business keeps talking about Gen Z, but Gen Z was only 4% of buyers last year, while Gen X and Boomers drove 70% of the sales and Millennials another 25%. At the same time, dollars keep drifting up to premium and super premium tiers. Look, if you're a brand distributor operator, that means stop building your whole plan around your youngest legal drinkers. Protect your core with the generations that are actually paying. Then layer in bold flavor RTDs, NA and THC options for the edges. The takeaway for today? Chase the headlines if you want, but build your 2026 number around who's actually buying your products today.
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