Beer is expected to be the most popular alcoholic beverage at Labor Day weekend celebrations, as 76% of shoppers said they plan to purchase it, according to consumer research firm Numerator.
Labor Day, one of three major beer-centric holidays of the summer after Memorial Day and July 4, was the third-largest week for beer sales in 2023, with volume increasing +26% compared to an average week, according to Beer Institute (BI) chief economist Andrew Heritage.
Numerator reported that of the 67% of consumers who plan to celebrate the unofficial end of summer, 52% plan to purchase bev-alc offerings for their parties, and more than three-quarters of them say they’ll buy beer, followed by spirits or spirits-based drinks (40%), wine (39%) and hard seltzers or canned cocktails (39%).
Bev-alc buyers are more highly concentrated in the Northeast, where 63% of Labor Day shoppers plan to buy alcoholic beverages, compared to 52% who plan to purchase non-alcoholic (NA) beverages. Consumers in the western part of the country are the reverse; 46% plan to buy NA drinks, compared to the 38% who plan to buy bev-alc products.
Beer over-indexes with Latino and Latina shoppers, 87% of whom say they plan to purchase it for Labor Day celebrations, compared to 76% of general respondents.
Nearly half (47%) of Millennial and legal-drinking-age Generation Z consumers plan to buy hard seltzers, compared to 39% of general respondents.
Younger respondents are more likely to celebrate the long weekend by dining out (16% of them vs. 10% of all respondents), going out for drinks (19% vs. 8%) or ordering takeout (16% vs. 8%), according to Numerator.
Almost two-thirds of respondents (63%) plan to celebrate the long weekend by grilling and 58% plan to gather with friends and family.
Close to 60% of respondents will shop for their celebrations at grocery stores, and 53% plan to shop at big box or club stores.
Last year, shoppers flocked to grocery stores for Labor Day beer purchases, driving a +42% increase in the channel compared to an average week in 2023, according to the BI.