So This Is Christmas

Merry Christmas is such an infectious feeling I like to feel that way all year around.

So if you are visiting just before Christmas, just after Christmas or even here on Christmas day I am sure you will find something of interest for you and in the spirit of Christmas.

It may be said that Christmas is no longer a celebration but this must be spoken by people that have never had trouble closing their eyes on Christmas Eve in an expectation of what maybe left for them on the carpet under the tree.

I continue to look forward to the surprise on my Grandchild's faces to this day at Christmas events.

Merry Christmas - Merry Christmas - Merry Christmas

Monday, December 30, 2013

Spending On Alcohol Growing At Restaurants

By Cornelius Nunev


Alcohol is a demon to some, but is something individuals have been enjoying for millennia. Americans are spending more on it in restaurants and bars in recent years, though. However, it has absolutely nothing to do with increased usage, but rather with higher prices.

Seeing markup

According to a recent post on NPR, part of its "What America Spends On" series, Americans are gradually increasing the amount spent on alcoholic drinks in dining places and bars. The series compares figures from 1982 to today, examining the changes in the 30-year period.

In 1982, the Cold War still existed, spandex was in vogue and yuppies were driving BMWs. Americans were also conscious of the mark up on beer, wine and spirits in dining places and bars, as only 24 percent of alcohol spending was in those locations and 76 percent was spent in shops.

The price of restaurant and bar alcohol has increased 79 percent during that time while store costs have dropped 39 percent. This is essential because it shows why there was a shift in people spending more in dining places and bars now. Currently, only 60 percent is spent in shops with 40 percent spent in bars and restaurants.

What do you spend on?

Part of this change that the nation faced included the fact that the country has seen changes in spending. For instance, in 2010, 16.2 percent of alcohol is spent on spirits while 39.7 percent was spent on wine. In 1982, only 16.2 percent was spent on wine, 34.6 percent was spent on spirits and 48.9 percent was on beer. Tastes have gotten much more costly.

The wine industry in America is in the midst of a gilded age. In 2011, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, there were 329.7 million cases of wine shipped around the country, which marked a milestone as the United States, for the first time, eclipsed France as the chief wine-drinking nation, as that country went through 320.6 million cases.

In 2010, the American wine industry was a $30 billion industry. In that year, 241.8 million cases were sent from a ton of different wineries. Millennials are willing to spend more on costly bottles and are drinking more. California by itself produced 61 percent of that wine, which means California is the state where most of the wine comes from.

Beer favored

From 1982 to 2012, the amount of beer that people drank did not change at all. In fact, it was 47.7 percent of sales in 2012, according to NPR. People are drinking less overall though because beer production has dropped, according to BusinessInsider, from 203 million gallons produced in 1990 to 182 million in 2011.

Beer drinkers are slowly gravitating toward brews from Main Street instead of Wall Street, as craft breweries are proliferating. In 2011, an 11 percent growth of the number of craft breweries was recorded over 2010. There were 1,989 craft breweries in operation, with 250 brand new breweries opening and 37 closing. Craft brewers produced almost 11.5 million barrels, a 5.7 percent share of the industry, and made $8.7 billion in revenue.




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