Where have all the young drinkers gone?

It’s the question that everyone who works in the drinks industry is asking themselves, or should be. Studies and surveys have repeatedly shown that fewer young adults are drinking alcohol, but what are the specific causes and what can the industry do to recruit more younger consumers? Erica Duecy , the founder of podcast and data + marketing consultancy Business of Drinks , has conducted in-depth research in a bid to understand what is shaping trends among young drinkers, and how the wine industry can better connect with them. She shares some of her insight with us.

Last year, you conducted a study into Gen Z and Millennials’ drinking preferences. Can you share some of the key takeaways of the research?

The key takeaway for us was that social norms around drinks in general are changing. There are huge implications for the way that wine is marketed to new audiences. Among the five key report insights,

No. 1: Soft drinks were the big winner, by far the most consumed beverages across both age cohorts. What three quarters of respondents liked about them was their flavours, while two thirds appreciated how easy they are to find.

No. 2: Millennials drink more wine than Gen Z, across all categories. The only category that Gen Zs consumed more of were non-alc cocktails. When Millennials are enthusiastic about wine, they consume it from two to three times per week, to every single day. But this only represents 25% of the cohort. Many other Millennials find the wine category confusing. They also worry that it will make them put on weight, or that it will give them a headache.

No. 3: Flavour is key. Over and over, respondents emphasised the importance of flavour. In a warning for the wine industry, many respondents reported that wine didn’t deliver the flavour goods they were seeking.

No. 4: Price matters. When it comes to wine, 27.4% of Millennials think it’s good value, compared to 24% of Gen Z. In other words, about 75% of both cohorts do not think wine is good value. More than two thirds rarely, if ever, spend over $30 for a bottle of wine, while 50% of the respondents rarely or never spend over $50, suggesting it will be hard to convince this cohort to trade up. Most importantly, price is the top purchase driver in deciding what kind of wine, or brand, to buy, with around six in 10 saying price is extremely or very important.

No. 5: Friends and family are most significant in shaping preferences. Younger audiences care more about what the people around them are drinking than they do about critics and scores. Online, Millennials and Gen Zs turn to social media and online search as their most relied-on resources for finding wine; wines tried in restaurants also played a big role. At the bottom of their list? Wine apps, wine publications, and critic scores.

Should the industry tackle Gen Z and Millennials separately as target audiences or are there enough similarities that they can be grouped together?

There are similarities, but also differences. Millennials still have many of the norms of older generations, while Gen Zs are abandoning previously held behaviours. For example, for both audiences, wine is not the No. 1 thing drunk at the dinner table; sodas are. That could be Coke and Pepsi or better-for-you sodas like Olipop and poppi . And what do they take to a dinner party? Millennials still report bringing wine as the top choice while Gen Zs take sodas. So the behaviours aren’t an exact match — there are similarities, but the experiences and contexts of the two audiences differ. If I were designing a brand marketing campaign, I’d recommend developing a Millennial strategy and a Gen Z strategy.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to young people and wine drinking: one is that they will automatically ‘evolve’ towards wine drinking; the other is that a proactive response from the industry is required to recruit them. What is your feeling about this?

Younger consumers are drinking wine — in the survey I commissioned, we can see that it’s the top category behind sodas when we look at what these audiences drink at least a couple of times a month. We saw that more than 40% of these audiences reported drinking wine 2 to 3 times a month.

And Millennials, especially, do appear to be drinking more wine as they age into their 40s, according to several recent studies — including a recent WINE MARKET COUNCIL report. But this is a crowded playing field. Wine is competing against beer and spirits — where Millennials over-index. And against emerging categories like non-alcoholic cocktails and THC-infused drinks — where Gen Z over-indexes. So there’s definitely an opportunity to pull these audiences into a deeper wine journey.

The question is how. There are some wine brands that over-index for younger audiences (i.e. Scribe Winery , Wente Vineyards , @Barefoot), but I generally look to RTD brands (i.e. Surfside , Buzzballz) and CPG products like better-for-you sodas and adaptogen drinks (i.e. OLIPOP PBC , Recess ) for case studies of marketing campaigns that resonate. Beatbox, for example, is a wine-based party punch. It did more than $100 million in sales last year, and its audience is mostly Gen Z and younger Millennials. Their social media and marketing channels are a great place to look to understand the types of messages that resonate with younger consumers.

In short, I don’t think the industry is overreacting. Wine has lost much of its “coolness” factor — what younger people are reaching for at parties is hard seltzer and beer over wine. And what do they drink when they’re treating themselves? Both audiences say soft drinks, RTDs, and canned cocktails — all over wine. There’s an opportunity to shift those behaviours.

Do you think the wine industry could take cues from other industries to reach out to young consumers more successfully?

There’s a huge opportunity to help younger consumers understand how wine can fit into their lives, as that message isn’t getting through. We only need shift our glance a bit to understand what’s working — spirits and RTDs. Looking at IWSR category data, beer and wine are losing volume and are projected to continue declining through 2027. Spirits are showing slight gains projected out through 2027. But the real action is in ready-to-drink products — in cans, single-serve bottles, pouches, and cartons. These include cocktails and long drinks, hard seltzer, hard coffee and teas, hard kombucha, wine spritzers and coolers, and flavoured alcoholic beverages FAB (alcoholic sodas). Right now, by volume, there are more RTDs being consumed per year than wine in the U.S. This is a category that barely existed a decade ago — so the fact that it has surpassed wine is astounding.

Why are these so popular? They tap into so many usage occasions where traditional wine and spirits haven’t been able to go in the past, such as concerts, beach, pools, boats, etc. They’re even popular at bars and restaurants because they’re reliable — you get the same experience no matter where you are. The format also plays into health and wellness trends around moderation, portion control, and transparency in labelling, with sugar and calorie counts clearly marked. These messaging points clearly resonate with consumers, and wine is missing out by not innovating with flavours, labelling, and format. To connect with younger consumers, wine brands should leverage that messaging.

What specific segments can be leveraged?

Make wine in styles and formats they want. For example, we see a clear preference for rosé, whites, and sparkling wines over reds. Across the board, rosé is the most popular wine style for younger consumers — with 47% of Gen Z saying it was their favourite and 44% of Millennials. With their simpler, fruitier flavours, these wines are just easier for many consumers to enjoy — especially those who are newer to the category. Rosé and sparkling work well in this regard, with stylish young influencers celebrating the #roseallday lifestyle.

And make wine in cans. Cans represent one of the brightest spots in wine. Where other segments of wine are flat or down, cans are expected to grow at a CAGR topping 13% over the next decade, on their way from a $1 billion to a $4 billion market segment. The audience for these products is Millennials and Gen Zs. In our survey, about 20% of these audiences already report buying wine in cans. It fits into their lives in a very clear and tangible way — cans can travel with them and fulfill a range of occasions.

Lastly, what should the industry be avoiding?

We’re doing ourselves a disservice by focusing so much of our marketing dollars on promoting regions. In our survey, some 70% of Millennials and Gen Z drinkers said they feel neutral about or ?nd region unimportant in their decision making on wine. Region is not a purchase driver. Also, one thing that kept coming up in the survey is that younger audiences see wine as hard to understand and as overwhelming. I think it’s important to remember that the differences we as wine professionals find interesting or special can also come across as too complex. And it can turn off consumers who might otherwise be open to the category. We need to clearly articulate “here’s how this product fits into your life.” Show the product in lifestyle situations. Make it easy for them to understand.

About Erica Duecy

Erica Duecy is one of the drinks industry’s most accomplished digital and content strategists. She has built data insights, marketing, and publishing programs for Drizly, an Uber Company , Union, and other hospitality and drinks tech companies. Previously, she served as Chief Content Of?cer for the wine-discovery platform Pix and the wine/spirits publication VinePair , and as Editor in Chief of SevenFifty Daily. She also has led digital editorial teams at Architectural Digest, Saveur, and Fodor’s Travel. Her content, podcast, and video programs have won more than 40 digital and editorial awards.