Annual Scarborough Research surveys show about 42-43% of adults are beer drinkers, little change over last few years. Latest survey for 2007-2008 shows again slightly higher % drink in top 10 metros. Among these mkts, beer most popular in Boston and Chicago (47.2%, 47.4%) least popular in Atlanta (38.5%). As import sales softened during this period, they lost some popularity in these mkts. Slightly below 27% of adults in these mkts said they drink imports, down slightly from previous survey. Still, imports a bit more popular than domestic light beers (25.6%) and domestic regular beer (21.4%) in these mkts. (Scarborough does not reflect volume, just brands/styles people say they drank, and could be more than one.) Over 30% of adults in Los Angeles and San Fran drink imports, near 30% in NYC. That drops to 20% in Houston and Dallas. About 4% say they drink “microbrews” in these mkts. But brands like Sam Adams, Shiner and Sierra Nevada score higher than that in individual mkts, so some consumers may no longer consider those brands “micros.” Top brands (in popularity) stayed the same in latest survey. Corona held on as #1 brand in NY, LA, San Fran and Washington DC. Bud Light had top spot in Boston, Dallas, Atlanta and Houston. Lite #1 in Chicago. Yuengling grabbed top spot in Philly. Lots more Scarborough details in our 2009 Beer Industry Update.
Survey Sez: Beer’s Popularity Hangin’ In
Publishing Info
- Newsletter: INSIGHTS Express
- Published: 02/16/2009
- Volume: 11
- Issue #: 18