Spirits Remain Recession Resilient

As many in the industry have noted, the spirits category felt more pain than beer or wine in the economic downturn. Discus said volume of US spirits grew 1.6% to 184 million cases in 2008, while dollar sales rose 2.8%, which was below analysts’ estimates. Since 2000, spirits revenues have seen an average 6% increase. Discus chief Peter Cressy remarked several times that spirits are recession resilient, not recession proof. He also pointed out that although the spirits industry may