The common thinking is that when recession hits, people drink more, but that has not turned out to be true in 2008. Not for hard liquor, at least. Maybe Americans are just getting high on life these days. No?
The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) also abandoned its practice of giving industry forecasts for 2009, citing marketplace volatility.
The trade group joins a growing list of companies, including Fortune Brands, Microsoft, eBay and Coach, that say it is too hard to predict results in the recession.
DISCUS said U.S. revenue for spirits companies rose 2.8 percent to $18.7 billion in 2008, while sales by volume rose 1.6 percent to 184 million 9-liter cases.
That represents a slowing from 2007, when revenue rose 5.6 percent and volume rose 2.4 percent, and DISCUS's prior forecast, which called for revenue growth of 4 percent to 5 percent and volume growth of about 1.9 percent.
"Contrary to popular belief, the entire beverage alcohol sector is recession-resistant, not recession-proof," said DISCUS CEO Peter Cressy in a press release.
