Is the world drinking responsibly?
Commercial Spirits Intelligence No.56
As people who have worked in and around the spirits industry for many years, we found that there was a lack of good, public, research on the trends in the spirits industry. Whether it’s trends in wood, or distillery capacity, or M&A activity - many of the existing research providers speak to a specific niche when we wanted a whole-market analysis. In this newsletter we leverage our experience, contacts and market intel to provide meaningful analysis that speaks to relevant issues for you. This newsletter is a collaboration between Duncan McFadzean of Noble & Co, and Martin Purvis. If you find this newsletter valuable, please consider a paid subscription.
Executive Summary
This week we look at deaths from alcohol abuse. A recent statistic caught our eye, with deaths wholly from alcohol down by 20% globally. This was an encouraging statistic and it got us wondering what lay behind it. Was it geographically focused, or is this a trend seen across the board? Are people learning to drink more responsibly, and is this an improved healthcare impact or as a function of the good work the alcohol producers are doing?
We discovered that the signs are mixed. The world is drinking less alcohol (-3.5%) but this varies by region of the world. 56% of the world (15+ years old) still didn’t drink alcohol. Overall death rates are falling but in Scotland, UK and the US they are rising again. However, hospitalisation rates are falling and have been for years.
There is a need to move past the health strategies versus the economic development arguments and find ways to collaborate and reduce death rates further. We note that the cause of deaths from alcohol abuse is often an underlying trauma and there are many ways that the industry could partner to tackle this.
Drink responsibly!