EDITOR ' S NOTE

It seems like things are finally starting to look up for the beverage alcohol industry . WSWA ’ s 2025 Access LIVE event wrapped up on a high note , with multiple speakers at the event stating that while numbers still aren ’ t what they were pre- Covid , they ’ re up from last year .

The holiday shopping season really helped to bring sales up , according to WSWA ’ s SipSource analysts . During a session at the Access LIVE event , analysts stated that total wine and spirits ended the year with slight improvements over November-ending data with declines of −5.5 % by volume and −5.0 % by revenue compared to −5.6 % and −5.1 %, respectively . An extra shipping day in December accounts for the improvement .

“ Recovery will be slow , but Q1 comps are strong . Spirits in Q1 2024 were down −4.8 % in volume and −5.7 % in revenue while wine saw decreases of −9.5 % in volume and −7.6 % in revenue ,” Dale Stratton , SipSource analyst , said during the session . “ In 2025 , we should expect to see less impact from inventory management at the retail level - what destocking can happen already has . Retailers can only destock so far before failing to meet their consumers ’ needs .” Even beer sales are beginning to see a slight increase in sales . Fintech data found that beer sales increased slightly between 2023 and 2024 . Presented during the National Beer Wholesalers Association ’ s ( NBWA ) Fintech & NBWA Beer Industry Update webinar in mid-December 2024 , total beer sales to on- and off-premise businesses totaled $ 68.6 billion in 2023 .

Since 2024 hadn ’ t yet fully ended at the time of the presentation , Fintech estimated a total of $ 70.7 billion in beer sales for the year . That ’ s a 3 % increase from 2023 . Albeit small , an increase is still an increase — something the beer industry hasn ’ t seen in quite some time .

So far , 2025 seems to be a promising year for the beverage alcohol industry . As long as brands continue to adapt to changing consumer preferences , sales will keep increasing .

Trade Managing Editor Krystina Skibo Tel : 763-383-4419 email : kskibo @ epgacceleration . com

Editor , Off-Premise Kyle Swartz Tel : 763-383-4447 email : kswartz @ epgacceleration . com

Contributing Editors Melissa Dowling , Marnie Old , Tom Shay

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Senior Product Manager , Data & Insights Marina Velez Tel : 763-383-4453 email : mvelez @ epgacceleration . com

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4 Beverage Wholesaler • Spring 2025 www . bevwholesaler . com