By George Anderson
Perhaps it's the Two-Buck Chuck phenomenon or the big screen spotlight provided by Sideways or the health benefits or simply the taste: Whatever the reason, more Americans now say they prefer to drink wine than beer.
According to Gallup, 39 percent of adults said the alcoholic beverage they drink most often is wine, followed by beer at 36 percent.
This is a reversal of past year results (Gallup has conducted the same survey since 1992) where beer was the clear favorite. In the first year of the study, 47 percent of consumers chose beer as their favorite compared to 27 percent for wine.
According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, beer is still far ahead of wine when it comes to sales volume. "About 2.8 billion cases of beer were sold last year, compared with nearly 270 million of wine."
Moderator's Comment: What do you take from the Gallup research if you are a retailer selling beer and wine? How do you present the categories in advertising and through in-store presentation to accentuate the strengths (elements of consumer appeal) of wine and beer? - George Anderson - Moderator