According a recent article in The Economist the cultural, economic and generational foundations of drinking in the United kingdom are shifting.
We're not quite all Zen Monks yet, but investors, smelling a repeat of Big Tobacco's long decline, are getting jittery.
Gen Z are the problem.... again!
One of the biggest headaches for the industry is… well, young people. Gen Z and younger millennials are drinking far less than previous generations did - in some cases half as much.
And not because they're all health saints. More often it's about cost.... I mean i don't bat an eye lid at > £5 a pint, but the problem is so many of those youngsters are, well, poor!
Then of course there is the anxiety, it's not just the risks of yr drunken endeavours getting immortalised on social media, out of your control, but it's also just the fact that you get anxious on hangovers, and this is something else the youngsters are more sensitive to too!
Damn them for being poor, and bless!
And damn the government....
And then there's the UK government who are increasingly pushing the idea that no level of alcohol is truly safe.
And so you've got this bizarrely tame coalesence of policymakers and twenty-somethings being aligned, making for quite the social shift!
No wonder the industry is in a bit of a panic over a possible “tobacco moment” — that point when a product becomes more trouble than it’s worth.
A global trend...?
Let us not exaggerate booze's decline: the world is still spending $1.2 trillion a year on the stuff.
The interesting twist is where that money is being spent.... while Western consumers are drinking less, the more affluent people in emergine markets are drinking more.
Meanwhile, drinking habits are evolving rather than disappearing. Premixed cocktails are selling like mad.
And then there's the rising profits from "Alcohol-Free Alcohol" which is something standard booze industry companies are adapting to.
And hats of to those big alcohol companies monetising all those pain in the ass Gen Zers who don't drink, may as well make them useful for yer profit sheets!
And have you seen the cost of some of those 0 drinks: the same price as a pint, that's your look out mate!
Final Thoughts
So yes I am saddened by the decline of our local boozers, honestly I am, and no old codger likes a generational shift, but at least there's some interesting things going on here when you dig a little deeper and I like the thought of big business ripping off those wallflowers!