U.S. consumers cut back on drinking

A study by the business advisory firm AlixPartners says the many U.S. consumers plan to drink around the same or less this year.

From Reuters:

About 74 percent of consumers surveyed said they planned to spend the same or less on soft drinks… For carbonated sodas, about 25 percent planned to spend less, while only 18 percent said they planned to spend more. The trends were similar for other soft drink categories, including bottled teas and sports and energy drinks. Only bottled juices and coffees saw the number of consumers planning to spend more outweigh those who planned to cut back, according to the survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers.

When it comes to alcoholic drinks, the study conducted in February found that 89 percent plan to spend the same or less.

The cut back in drinking may cost beverage companies around $8 billion in sales, which could result in serious financial jeopardy for some in the drinking industry.