Survey: Wine’s biggest competition is soft drinks

Price still matters, but green? Not so much

A new survey finds that wine’s biggest competition among younger consumers is not craft beer, hard seltzer or cocktails, but soft drinks.

Yes, soft drinks.

The report, a joint venture between the Business of Drinks podcast and Research & Marketing Strategies, found that both Gen Z and Millennials prefer sodas and colas more than anything else. Three-quarters of those surveyed said they preferred the flavor of soft drinks and two-thirds said they were easy to find (availability, yet again). Finally, soft drinks were the “most versatile” of the beverages surveyed, since they could enjoy them at just about every social occasion.

Frankly, this is stunning news, and offers insights not seen in the hodgepodge of other studies I’ve suffered through over the past several years. It’s especially fascinating that the age groups that are supposedly drinking less booze for health reasons are drinking sugar-laden, calorie-busting sodas instead.

Which, says the man who conducted the survey, was the whole point. The questions purposely asked about more beverages, more occasions for drinking, and more reasons for drinking.

“For example, for wine, much of the previous research I’ve seen discusses wine in the more limited context of beer (especially craft beer) and spirits,” says Roger Brooks of Research & Marketing Strategies. “Sometimes, hard seltzer is examined and, more recently, non-alcoholic beverages. Much of the information is sales data, however, and survey data is fragmented without this breadth and depth.”

Among the other findings:

• Not surprisingly – to me, anyway – is that price was one of the most important reasons for choosing what to drink. So was flavor, which should come as a shocker to a wine industry focused on making bland, sort of sweet plonk to appeal to the widest possible audience.

• Yes, availability matters. If the product is difficult to buy, consumers say they tend to look for something else. Thank you, three-tier system.

• Younger drinkers make decisions about what to buy based on advice from social media, friends, and family. Wine apps, wine publications, and critic scores? Hardly at all.

• Factors like “eco-friendly and organic” as well “low or no calories” were not important in making purchase decisions, For wine, less than 1 in 10 said “low or no calorie,” “non-alcoholic,” “orange wines”, and “eco-friendly” were “liked best.”

A caveat: I’ve worked for the people who do the “Business of Drinks” podcast, so take that for what you will. The methodology: The survey queried 1,300 drinking age U.S.-based Gen Z and Millennial consumers.