New Report Shows People Are Drinking More At Home Than At Bars, Even Post-COVID

Do you remember those first few weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, when nobody knew what day or time it was, and cocktails seemed acceptable at any hour? We now know it to be the start of an at-home drinking trend, given that bars were uninhabitable for several months in certain parts of the U.S. A new report from Kantar (via Food Dive) reveals consumers are drinking less while out, with 23% saying they drink more at home now than they did 12 months ago. Only 16% say they now drink more at a bar or restaurant, and inflation is the likely culprit.

Though bars and restaurants are back open at full capacity and have been for a while, it seems the thought of preparing a cocktail or pouring a glass of wine at home has remained enticing to those who choose to drink. It led people to get creative back in 2020 — even Ina Garten went in on the at-home cocktail trend, creating a massive Cosmopolitan that we still think about to this day. Now, it seems the trend is here to stay.

Interestingly, the biggest reason for reduced restaurant drinking doesn't necessarily stem from a desire to reduce alcohol consumption. Rather, it's coming from inflation. Restaurant prices have increased quite a bit in the last few years — and menu prices have started outpacing the rise in grocery costs. As a result, more people are opting to test their mixology skills at home, where they can get more for their money compared to paying $10 to $20 for a drink at a bar.

Nonalcoholic cocktails and spirits are on the rise as well, especially in younger generations; the Kantar data says that nearly one-quarter of Gen Z people surveyed admitted to buying nonalcoholic beer in the past year, as well as 18% of millennials.

Inflation has impacted alcoholic beverage companies, too, and not just restaurants and bars. According to PYMNTS, Molson Coors CEO Gavin Hattersley said his company has noticed people are "trading down," meaning they're replacing their usual 30-pack with a 24-pack, or a 12-pack in favor of a six-pack, in order to cut personal spending. People are also opting for beer more than hard alcohol to save money. "Beer actually gained share of total alcohol beverage in the quarter," Hattersley said, referring to October-December 2022. Though drinking is still a common social pastime, people are changing the way they choose to consume.