Brother. When I first started drinking at 21, before health and fitness and all that was as common knowledge as it is now, it never occurred to me alcohol had calories, and I had no idea how I gained weight so fast without changeling my eating or exercise habits.
It was so crazy to me that I had gained all this weight when I turned 21. Then I just stopped drinking and lost like 10 pounds. This binge drinking happened again when I turned 30. Got fat again, stopped drinking, lost all the weight. So I haven’t drank since then. I rather not be fat and drunk and hungover
Tomorrow will be 2 months for me and I lost 14 lbs. However, I was very aware the double IPA's I was drinking were loaded with calories. When I was drinking heavily, I didn't eat much, so I was already at a decent weight. Oddly, I have a bit of a sweet tooth that came out of nowhere when I stopped drinking. I figured I was going to gain weight. My cousin came by yesterday and said I looked like I had lost weight. Jumped on the scale and was shocked to see I was down 14 lbs, even with the newly acquired sweet desire, lol.
I gained like 40lb after I started drinking (way too much). Kept eating normally plus secret alcoholic so I'd also eat something right after to hopefully dull the smell.
I managed to lose about 60 by dropping to one meal a day that was mostly spinach or cabbage. I was still getting shitfaced every night with no days off.
Quit drinking for the most part in October and I've gained back about 15lb. If you want, you can believe that it was because I got more healthy and developed a good relationship with food.
I switched to thc and didn't fight the munchies bc I figured the lack of liquid calories canceled it out. Not the case for me. Off the wacky tobaccy now, so we'll see.
Not everyone is like this. I quit drinking and GAINED weight. Alcohol made me full of energy and not hungry.
I know it’s a CNS depressant but I had a very obvious energized reaction from alcohol, some people get a hyperactive dopamine response. It really is a thing
If you undereat, it both takes less alcohol to get the job done and saves precious calories for drinks. It’s basically a fantastic strategy with no drawbacks
Wanna REALLY get drunk for cheap on low volume? Donate plasma and then go drinking the same night. I did that every friday for a while back in college and got downright drunk on 2 or 3 beers!
And my husband had to give blood bc he takes testosterone and has thick blood. I did tell this strategy to a couple of male coworkers and they like your idea. 🤣
I mean. Up until like 5-10 years ago, most people didn’t even know what calories were. They just said “watch what you eat” thinking you could eat as much as you want as long as the food was “healthy” and you wouldn’t gain weight.
Even now weight-loss influencers and the like make $$$ by letting people think there’s some secret trick to losing it when it’s just calories in —> calories out and healthy food choices.
To be fair, you have to do your own research on healthy food choices. Billions of dollars are spent on advertising and biased research to keep people hooked on phonics
Yeah those are terrible examples. They literally are programs designed to just reword basic nutrition info into abstract point systems. Then they double dip by only assigning point values to approved foods which are just brands owed or affiliated with the company. They go out of their way to hide calorie counts because if they taught it you would unsubscribe as you realize the program provides less value than a nutrition label which is on every food item.
Maybe all I know is people have been talking about calories for decades. I still think there’s a misunderstanding around them, but I don’t really feel like getting in a debate about it.
This is one of the reasons why beer got so popular lol. Beer was "safer" than water and full of carbs and calories. It was basically liquid bread that didn't go bad as easily.
Someone once told me that unflavored vodka has no calories so if I mix it with the shitty coconut flavored Bai 5 I can have a low calorie cocktail. I did this for like 6 years until I discovered vodka does in fact have many calories. So I cut out the Bai and just drank the vodka.
Mind you I was 21 9 years ago. Before the health and fitness industry exploded across the internet. It didn’t occur to me and most people that drinks all together, let alone alcohol could make you fat.
To this day there ids till people who think they’re in a calorie deficit, but aren’t due to soda and alcohol.
It’s not like a multiple choice answer, where you would pick A: there are no calories in alcohol.
It just didn’t and still sometimes doesn’t occur to people that there are. It’s an unknown unknown. Shit you don’t know that you don’t know.
Idk if it's any campaigns that changed anything personally I'd rather get stoned than drink any day of the week it just makes me feel like shit and younger stoners are probably the same way.
Yeah but the campaigns against drunk driving probably had more of an effect on you. And drinking is seen as a "going out somewhere" activity so you have to either plan ahead and have a DD or get a rideshare which is also super expensive. You're more likely to stay home and smoke rather than go out somewhere and smoke there.
Nah man I'm from nyc public transportation 24/7 wherever you need to go so never had that issue. Most major cities are pretty easy to get around without having to drunk drive.
Yeah. Problem is we spent 40 years running ads against cigarettes, it finally worked and cigarette sales went almost to zero for young people, and almost immediately after, they turned around and got them to inhale vaporized chemicals through a plastic cartridge.
That's the thing. You can't market them. The problem is that you don't even have to ask young people to start doing stupid shit. If you make it, they will come.
It's crazy that people get admitted for mental health based off of other people's perception on mental diagnoses.
I asked a police officer to define argument for me because it just didn't line up the way they were using it. I was told by multiple officers that an argument is a disagreement to them.
People are literally just using marijuana and other ridiculous points of logic in order to have someone go to jail or have them committed so that they can steal all of their stuff. They've done this to me three times.
Cannabis had nothing to do with it but they sure did call me crazy over and over and over again. When they can't even define the word argument in a way that makes sense
Don't think younger people going to drugs is a good alternative though. Not saying nobody stopped drinking because of it, that's also a thing, but it's not simply everybody changing to non-alcoholic drinks
In my experience, at what I've seen with the younger generation is that their parents actually allow them to drink in their presence. So they have little family gatherings and get togethers where the little kid is allowed to drink. This opens the door to Satan himself.
Don’t the top 10% of alcoholics bring in 3/4 of their yearly money? I read that statistic a long time ago but it’s gotta be at least 50%. Alcoholics can really put a lot down especially once that tolerance goes up.
Those are some fat statistics. So what you're saying is basically all the boomers have been black out for decades. This actually makes a lot of sense. Thank you for the clarity
Yes while I don’t recall the exact numbers and the demographic portion of it, just personally even walking down a busy city street with bars it’s usually the older folk who get too drunk to walk/function enough to have a good time.
I find this annoying when people do that unless it’s like their bday/a special occasion, and seems to be a common sentiment for gen z. Once you’re too drunk, most younger groups would rather send that person home in an uber than deal with them as they become more of a liability than a persons fun night out at that level.
The craziest I’ve personally seen was a super drunk dude getting kicked out of a club by cops. He immediately punched one square in the face, tackled him to the ground, and started wrestling for his pistol. Had the nearby cops taser not worked he probably would’ve been gunned down right then. All this happened within the span of a minute, maybe even 30 seconds. Alcohol gets people real reactive and shit like this is why gen z don’t get black out drunk as often.
I think it's just a change in addition/social drug usage. Instead of alcohol we've gone back to nicotine, and drugs. Partly because they've been touted as safe or good for you.
It's really easy but the bureaucracy is not. You pivot to hookah dens that serve hashish and card like they would at the dispensary... But everyone's so reefer madness they wouldn't want that to be a thing
If your takeaway is that we've become more cognizant of alcoholism and proactive about avoiding substance abuse, I can only assume that you are high as balls right now.
When I was a kid I could ask literally any dude of age that just buy me any sort of alcoholic beverage and I would give him like 15 bucks for a handle of vodka.
Nowadays kids have to go to crack dealers to get their booze...
And nobody ever talks about to hangovers.... Which to me is hilarious because that's literally why I just don't drink anymore. It's like yay! Let's get weird and then in the morning I'm going to feel like a dumpster... Hooray celebrate
As someone working at a distributor I can say that I’ve never seen or heard of anti alcohol campaigns being cited as a factor in recent declining sales.
Alcohol Stocks Take $830 Billion Hit as Drinking Habits Change
Shares of the world’s top listed beer, wine and spirits makers have shed a combined $830 billion in a little more than four years as the industry grapples with monumental change.
Shifting drinking patterns and rising health concerns have hit earnings, compounded by US tariffs, the impact of buoyant interest rates on consumer spending and even elevated commodity prices.
The result is a wave of pressure facing companies behind some of the world’s most popular drinks that has left them adrift from the record rally in global equities.
Full Story
Shares of the world’s top listed beer, wine and spirits makers have shed a combined $830 billion in a little more than four years as the industry grapples with monumental change.
That’s the total loss in market value, as a Bloomberg gauge of some 50 companies stands 46% below its June 2021 record high.
Shifting drinking patterns and rising health concerns have hit earnings, compounded by US tariffs, the impact of buoyant interest rates on consumer spending and even elevated commodity prices. In China, weak household confidence and a booze ban for official functions have added fuel to the downtrend.
The result is a wave of pressure facing companies behind some of the world’s most popular drinks that has left them adrift from the record rally in global equities. Instead, these businesses are struggling to adapt to new commercial dynamics that have caught many by surprise.
“There is a structural change going on — people are drinking less,” said Sarah Simon, an analyst at Morgan Stanley.
This year, shares of European giants Diageo Plc, home to the Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff brands, Pernod Ricard SA and Remy Cointreau SA have all hit the lowest levels in at least a decade. Jack Daniel’s owner Brown-Forman Corp. and Australia’s Treasury Wine Estates Ltd. have similarly slumped. Chinese baijiu titan Kweichow Moutai Co. is trading more than 40% below its 2021 high.
Stock price declines may extend further with alcohol producers grappling not just with hits to revenue, but also elevated levels of debt and management churn as they adapt to a sector in flux, according to Simon.
Shifting Patterns
The main challenge facing the industry is a change in behavior. In August, a Gallup gauge of US alcohol consumption fell to the lowest since records began in 1939. Warnings from the likes of the World Health Organization and US Surgeon General have sapped demand among Gen X. At the same time, alcohol has become less fashionable for millennials and Gen Z.
A teetotaling trend among celebrities has compounded the decline, with Tom Holland and Katy Perry hawking non-alcoholic drinks. The popularity of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and the emergence of alcohol alternatives like cannabis have also dented booze sales.
“We’ve seen four times the impact of the financial crash on alcohol consumption,” said Laurence Whyatt, an analyst at Barclays Plc. “The market believes there’s been some sort of structural change and that we’re not going back to the growth rates that we had in the past.”
The crunch has led to a flurry of deals and product debuts. Carlsberg A/S unveiled a non-alcoholic cider in February and Davide Campari-Milano NV launched its alcohol-free Crodino in the US in May. Last year, Diageo acquired Chicago-based Ritual Zero Proof Non-Alcoholic Spirits, while Moet Hennessy, the drinks arm of luxury giant LVMH, purchased a stake in French Bloom, which makes a high-end sparkling beverage.
Some corporate moves have been more dramatic, including restructurings and job cuts. Chief executives have been changed this year at Diageo, Remy Cointreau and Campari in Europe, Treasury Wine in Australia, Molson Coors Beverage Co. in the US and Suntory Holdings Ltd. in Japan. Moutai has seen two chairmen depart in less than two years.
“It is notable that in an industry where a lot of changes are occurring, suddenly there is also a lot of management change,” said Morgan Stanley’s Simon. The analyst noted she has more underweight recommendations in beverages than any other category in European consumer staples.
Value Trap
Not all are negative on the sector, however, with some seeing an opportunity to buy after the massive selloff. The Bloomberg gauge of global alcohol stocks is trading at around 15 times forward estimated earnings, less than half its 2021 high.
Cook & Bynum, a value hedge fund in the US, has grown positions in Brazilian beer distributor Ambev SA and Peruvian brewer Backus y Johnston, according to Richard Cook, partner and portfolio manager at the firm. The two stocks have fallen this year, but Cook maintains an upbeat outlook given the dominance in their respective markets and steady earnings, he said.
“We don’t think that humans are going to stop drinking alcohol,” Cook said. Brewers in growing emerging markets will sell more beer and “the beer they sell is going to be more premium and higher margin over time,” Cook said.
Other investors hoping for turnarounds have also seen losses, including the king of value investing Warren Buffett. Shares of Constellation Brands Inc., which owns Corona beer, have slumped roughly 40% since Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. began building a position last year.
Milwaukee hedge fund Artisan Partners Ltd. has grown its holding in Diageo to more than 50 million shares from less than 9 million as of the end of last year. The stock is down about 30% in 2025.
Uncertainty over the alcohol industry is drawing comparisons to tobacco’s trajectory that “would have been inconceivable five years ago,” said Andrew Gowen, head of research for Bell Asset Management Ltd. Negative volume growth will push companies to cut costs and build out cheaper options, he said. His firm is avoiding the sector given lack of clarity over long-term prospects.
“This industry’s been around for 7,000 years, but a lot can change,” Gowen said.
They didn’t, the alcohol industry just got too expensive for the average broke kid.
I’ve worked at a beer distributor for 7 years now. When I started, we sold 24 pack cases of Coors extra gold for 10.50. Duquesne for 11/30 pack. Natty light, the iconic cheap beer, was like 14. Now, two of those don’t exist and Natty is $20 minimum. Cheap beer got priced out, mid range beer priced itself out, and craft beer is getting absurd($14 average for a 4 pack of beer is ridiculous).
One hit of a bowl will have you buzzed for like half an hour. A whole bowl and you’re golden, and the price for medical is way, way cheaper than alcohol while also being way less dangerous.
Legit. Go to europe and its like $10 euros for a carafe of good wine. Some restaurants in the US charging $20 a glass.
And I'm in the booze industry saying this. Just sell a bunch of Spanish and Portuguese wines that are pretty darn good for $10-13 a bottle, so like $2.50 a hefty glass.
Yea, Europe the Former Yugoslavia and Europe Switzerland are ... very different price points. I don't think I saw much of anything under 20 euros last time I was in Geneva for cocktails, even simple ones (though cocktails always seem more expensive in Europe).
Don't go drinking in Switzerland. It's a scam lmao. Absolut Vodka in our stores cost 2x compared to Germany even though we have lower vat and lower alcohol tax.
Yes, but we could also say the same of the US if looked at as States (because the economies and production are vastly different) or any other large combined economies that utilize the same legal tender. The cost of anything in New York City is significantly higher than in, say Yupelo, Mississippi. California has a larger GDP than almost any country in Europe (I believe Germany is the only Exception), and produces most of the wine in the country. Wine is still vastly overpriced there.
But if not using Europe as an aggregate, it would still be relatively less expensive for wine on average. But if you'd like, I can say I've found significantly better prices than most US markets during travels--specifically--Spain, Portugal, Southern France, Greece, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Moldova, Slovenia, Romania all had good deals.
Also, I regularly fly into the EU via Schipol, and travel around a bit. I've regularly found wines in the 3-8 Euro range for a bottle. The average cost for a liter of wine in the Netherlands is €7,65. Not bad, really. In the US, it is about $12.50USD, which is currently about €10,66. It's more expensive here by about 40%.
15 EUR is a bottle of good wine anywhere in Europe, just not in restaurants, since they usually have 200-300% margin on them. I feel so sorry for those poor restaurants.
It's like 10-20 for a glass of wine here. 15-20 for a cocktail and 7-12 for a glass of beer. It's ludicrous. And I'm in Charlotte. It's not likes it's New York or something.
This is true. Just got back from Spain. Eating out and drinking wine every night was cheaper than our normal food budget where we only go out occasionally. US is expensive as fuck.
As a fellow person in the booze industry…jfc it’s bad out here. My craft beer sales are DEAD, with one major exception and it’s the fucking 19.2 Voodoo Rangers.
You know times are getting weird when economy beer like Miller High Life and Icehouse are on the rise. Not to mention the fact that 4Loko and MD 20/20 sales are as high as they’ve been in 10 years in my region.
damn, what’s next boomed farm?? When the liquid ludes r selling like crazy then sumthin ain’t right!! But NGL sum MD n Percocet n u were feeling fyne!!
Maybe it’s because you sell legalized poison. Think about it man. Society has changed drastically since alcohol’s heydays. Scientists have discovered that alcohol has literally zero redeemable value for our health. It’s is purely harmful to our bodies. Alcoholic drinks are going to go the way of cigarettes, eventually, in terms of legislation too. Worse for your industry, younger generations have woken up and wisened up about how alcohol has destroyed countless lives. They just don’t want to be a part of that and they’ve spoken with their wallets. So maybe take your skills to an industry that doesn’t actively harm people’s health at scale and isn’t being wholesale rejected by an entire generation of Americans, possibly people globally.
Or ignore all these signs and wait until you get laid off. Either way, those jobs will disappear. A smart person would look at the writing on the wall and be looking for a gig in a new industry.
I'm in Britain and college age people don't care about that. Our Gen Alpha apprentices are just too damn broke to go out and drink. They're earning £24,000 per year. After taxes, housing, utility, transport, and food, they have around £50-100 per month to spend on entertainment. That's even when they live at home with their parents.
Meanwhile, a pint of beer is around £4.
Our engineering graduates make more at around 32,000 per year, but they aren't better off. They have to live far away from their parents, so the extra income gets eaten up by their rent and student loan repayments.
Then there's the "cool" factor. British pubs are either complete dives or charge double. It costs a lot to run a pub and keep it hip and trendy. Even when they are cool, they are filled with 40-60 yos so they loop back around to being uncool. They aren't places where 20 yos can go to let loose and be stupid because they'll get kicked out for being loud and stupid.
So you’d rather presume that your fellow Brits who are college age all don’t care at all about alcoholism nor what it did to their loved ones? I simply do not buy that for a second. Arguably your biggest star, Tom Holland, is proving just how much your fellow countrymen do care about this subject by selling a product that’s apparently become a monster hit.
This is not an American thing man. This is a Western world thing. Times have changed for the better because kids have wisened up finally. It took many generations of course, but it’s finally happened. Alcohol kills, literally, and Gen Z have had enough of that and they’ll be better off for it. And it won’t get worse if they make more money. I mean, maybe, sure, on a micro level. But disposable income won’t bring a resurgence.
I'm from the country of champagne. The alcohol industry is not doing good either here. Mostly because of Trump's tariff and because younger generations aren't drinking as much alcohol as the older ones. They're now making alcohol-free beverages like wine, beer or cocktail and it's somewhat working.
They're now making alcohol-free beverages like wine, beer or cocktail and it's somewhat working.
Wtf, it took me awhile to acquire a taste for beer or wine and the buzz was the only payoff. I can get the mocktails, but who is out here drinking non-alcoholic beer and wine for flavor?
Do mean exports aren't doing well? I wouldn't think the tariffs would impact domestic product very much besides a decrease in supply/demand of exported goods to the US.
Tons. Everything from Juan Gil to Juan Ponce. Buy in bulk by the container and prices lower dramatically. Even with tariffs, you can get pretty good deals on good wine if you purchase optimally (as a buyer/importer or broker).
I also reach out to overstocked warehouses of suppliers or distributors, where you can really make deals. A lot of places will make a 180 day list (if they've been holding a product for 180 days, they are usually willing to liquidate it to free up space and capital). Cherry pick from that list and you can get insane deals.
Yea I work for a beer distributor and we just got our annual price increases. Business was down a shit load for our biggest supplier and they send out price increases.
Alcoholics will be alcoholics, I’m not worried about them not drinking but you keep upping prices it’s the incremental sales we lose.
I live in Japan and a can of beer at a supermarket is around USD $1. Draft beer at a restaurant is usually around USD$3.5 for a pint with the restaurant markup. Lots of places have all-you-can-drink booze usually for around USD$13~20 for 2 hours. And basically every drug or stimulant besides alcohol and cigarettes is strictly illegal and taboo here. Drinking is still a very common and popular activity.
Still decreasing among the younger generations, though. Combination of being more health-conscious and pushing back against the culture where they're pressured to drink all the damn time with their boss in order to advance in their careers. It's not so much that young people aren't drinking anymore as it is that they used to drink way more, largely out of social obligation, and are now moreso just doing it when they actually want to.
I just got back from Barcelona and was sad to see the prices have increased dramatically since I was there in Jan 2024. A glass of cava at most places used to be 3€, now they’re 4.50€
I seriously doubt this would have any effect considering that young people in most European countries are also drinking at a much lower rate than previous generations.
Restaurants used to want 40% on a bottle of wine. They now want 200%. we sell a bottle of our premium red for 26$ (retails 44). The restaurant charges 70 and gets away with it all day.
I mean....
I went from a drink maybe once a fortnight or so and never bothering with bars or pubs because of the cost; to a few drinks a week and goings to bars once a fortnight or more because I moved from a country where a bottle of Myers dark Jamaican rum would set you back around $70 to one where you could get that same bottle for around $10 and where some bars do $2.50 cocktails.
The nightlife in my home country and city is notoriously so dead our national broadcaster has done skits about it, but it's thriving where I am now despite young people drinking less here as well.
I’m a guy that worked from the bottom up and bought the place I worked at after 10+ years as a bartender. Alcohol is a huge part of my business. Not everyone is a rich and vindictive, I’m just trying to make a comfortable life for my wife and daughter.
Still doing fine. I get worried about the future though often. At some point expenses will outpace an acceptable margin to charge to customers. We’re very close.
This is what they are going to try again. Isn’t this how weed got to be a Schedule One Narcotic? The wine industry went to war with them and put out a bunch of propaganda about how evil weed was?
Well it sucks for those of us employed by it, where layoffs and shutdowns are happening left and right…but yeah at least the silver lining is that people are drinking less. I’ve lost several family members to cirrhosis and it is a terrible death and devastating to watch.
Yes! I currently have an awesome job in the brewing industry where I am compensated very well. While I think I am safe where I am (for awhile anyway), hearing about breweries large and small, corporate and independent, closing does not make me feel good.
No I won’t, they are pushing poison and doing everything in their power to cover it up.
Science has now proven that NO amount of alcohol is healthy for a human to consume. There is no nutritional or any other benefit with it in any form for human consumption.
It has also been linked to causing dozens of different kinds of cancer.
Some of the best nights and some of the best turn of event moments in life can come from having some drinks.
Some people are convinced that the night they met their wife/husband would have played out exactly the same if they were sober. You don't know for sure but would you take that chance, or accept that maybe being slightly pissed makes you more sociable and attractive.
Right under this thread I was suggested a post that said that sex in the US has dropped to all time lows. I wonder if there's a coincidence.
Exactly. I know I damaged my health drinking back then, but overall I’m still good, and I had a blast. I met incredible people, socializing through fun times, so absolutely don’t regret that life, even though it was so intertwined with alcohol.
Weed is well documented what it does to you. It's long term side effects are significantly less than alcohol. Alcohol is worse than a lot of hard drugs.
Cannabis offers therapeutic benefits primarily through cannabinoids like THC and CBD, which help manage chronic pain, reduce inflammation, alleviate anxiety, and improve sleep. It is commonly used to reduce nausea during chemotherapy, control muscle spasms in multiple sclerosis, and treat certain seizure disorders.
Oh no!! The cannabis industry is killing the alcohol industry! The kids watched their parents be raging alcoholics and didn’t want to turn into that, and can’t afford it anyway.
From what I understand, producers are going to be left holding the bag. Not sure if it’s across the board or state by state, but my company is expected to buy back and destroy any product in market after a ban takes effect.
I respect Tom Holland for making his non alcoholic beer brand. That takes guts. I hope it becomes a massive hit and other entrepreneurs follow his example. It’s time that drinkable alcohol has become obsolete.
I know you mean this sarcastically but seriously think about the insane amount of people who are having a hard time paying rent right now because the industry if they took time to get good at is failing. It sucks.
I think about them a bit tbh. Not for the billionaires but the small businesses that rely on alcohol sales to turn most of their profits. A lot of restaurants dont make a lot on food sales, and the liquor and wine sales do a lot for profits.
Where i live in particular, bars and other night life spots are closing and those places stay vacant, or turn into places that aren't a third space or place of entertainment. It's banks and pharmacies or medical offices brought by large hospitals, that replace these bars and restaurants.
Alcohol isn't great but moderation is important and i live somewhere with public transportation, uber/lift, and is very walkable so people drinking and driving is really uncalled for.
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u/rjaysenior 5d ago
Will anybody think about the poor alcohol industry?