A seller holds a bottle of Casamigos from the world’s leading spirit maker Diageo, tequila as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump plans to impose tariffs on Mexico, which could affect up to $1.6 billion Tequila sales, in a liquor store at the Monterrey Hotel Mexico, December 10, 2024.
Daniel Becerril | Reuters
The U.S. spirits industry maintained its market share leading position in beer and wine for the third consecutive year in 2024, according to new data released on Tuesday.
According to the annual economic report of the United States Distillation Spirit Committee, a leading trade organization.
This is the first time that income in the spiritual category has dropped in two decades. Despite the recovery of more typical buying methods after the pandemic boom, spirits revenue has grown on average 5.1% annually since 2019. From 2003 to 2019, the average annual growth rate was 4.4%.
Discus president and CEO Chris Swonger said: “While the spiritual industry has proven to be resilient during tough times, it is certainly unaffected by disruptive economic forces and market challenges, and in That’s definitely the case in 2024.”
Tequila and mezcal remained the highlights of the year, as revenue rose 2.9% to $6.7 billion in the only spirit category that showed sales growth.
The top 5 spiritual categories of income in 2024:
- Vodka: $7.2 billion (from the previous year)
- Tequila/Mezcal: $6.7 billion (up 2.9%)
- American Whiskey: $5.2 billion (down 1.8%)
- Kind: $2.8 billion (down 3.6%)
- Premixed cocktails including spirits RTD: $3.3 billion (up 16.5%)
Premixed ready-made cocktails also add double digits, but the category includes a variety of types of mixed spirits, including vodka, rum, whiskey and cordiality.
Mexico tariff threat
Mexican spirits and beer have been growing in popularity among consumers for twenty years, tequila and mezcal Sales exceed American whiskey is the first time in 2023.
The path forward for Mexican products remains uncertain. Trump administration earlier this month Delay Imports from Mexico, including unique products such as Mezcal and Tequila, are subject to tariffs, while tariff negotiations continue.
“These tariffs have wreak havoc on our craft distillation community,” said Sonat Birnecker Hart, president and founder of Koval Distillery in Chicago. “Many craft distillation plants have spent a pleasant time, energy and resources expanding to international markets, just Seeing tariffs that are not related to our industry break their dreams.”
Swonger also noted that tariffs would be a “catastrophic blow” to distilleries and would only increase the pressure on the industry’s supply chains by higher interest rates as wholesalers and retailers continue to deplete inventory accumulation and stockpile products with caution.
“Consumers have fought for some of the highest prices and interest rates in decades, which puts pressure on their wallets and forces many to reduce spending on small luxury items like the spirit of distillation,” Swonger said.
“Our sales have dropped slightly, but consumers continue to choose spirits and enjoy cocktails with family and friends,” he said.
