Chicago, October 24, 2007, Business Wire – A recent consumer survey by foodservice consultants Technomic found that consumers were more than twice as likely to order beer or mixed drinks than wine when drinking away from home. In examining all dining- and/or drinking-out occasions, 48 percent involved spirits/mixed drinks, 46 percent included beer, but only 18 percent included wine. Because a quarter of all occasions involve more than one type of alcohol, relative shares add up to more than 100 percent.

But the picture changes considerably when examining alcohol consumption by type of occasion. For example, wine consumption jumps to 37 percent when the occasion is a business meal. Special events, such as a romantic meal or other planned special occasions, are also much more likely to include wine.

The research also examines adult beverage occasions by venues and various consumer demographics, including age, ethnicity, and party composition. For example, the survey found that a quarter of all on-premise adult beverage occasions were informal family meals, representing the largest share of all on-premise occasions. This finding is particularly interesting for casual dining operators, many of which have struggled to build alcohol sales and have concentrated instead on facilitating their off-premise business through take-out sales.

These and other findings were presented to participating clients in Project CO-PILOT, a syndicated research program that provides key metrics related to on-premise adult beverage consumption. By monitoring changes in purchase behavior among consumers, as well as changes in attitudes and loyalty, sponsors gain key insights regarding trends and industry dynamics.

To learn more about Project CO-PILOT, or other research offerings for adult beverage suppliers, please visit www.onpremiseinsights.com or contact David Henkes, Technomic Senior Principal, at 312-506-3927 or dhenkes@technomic.com.

Technomic, Inc. provides critical insights and strategic consulting to clients in the on-premise/foodservice channel to enhance their business strategies, decisions and results. Its services include category and channel analyses, customer satisfaction studies, opportunity assessments, benchmarking programs and brand equity enhancement.

Source: Technomic, Inc.
Press Contact: Chris Urban, 312-506-3929 or curban@technomic.com