Currently at $1 trillion, Black spending power is expected to climb to $1.3 trillion by 2018, representing a 411% gain from 1990. The growth in Black buying power continues to outpace that of Whites, despite the fact that Blacks have lower income. In fact, when it comes to alcoholic beverages, Black consumers are more likely than any other consumer group to drink premium brands across nearly every category. With the recession five years in the past, Black consumers are spending more on entertainment – whether it’s a party or function in their home, going to a concert, attending a “sip and view” (movie and cocktails), or going to a bar or nightclub. The increased purchasing power of this consumer group further demonstrates that marketing targeted specifically to the Black consumer is more important than ever before.

This report is dedicated solely to the alcoholic beverage consumption patterns of the Black consumer and builds on the analysis presented in the following Mintel reports:

• Black Consumers and Dining Out – US, May 2013

• White Spirits – US, November 2013

• Beer – US, December 2013

• Private Label Beverages – US, December 2013

• Beverage Packaging Trends – US, February 2014

• Alcoholic Beverage Drinking Occasions – US, May 2014

• On-premise Alcohol Consumption Trends – US, May 2014

• Craft Beer – US, June 2014

• Dark Spirits – US, October 2014

• Wine – US, November 2014

This report examines Black consumers’ attitudes and behaviors toward alcoholic beverages, and covers the following categories:

• Beer: Domestic, import, craft, microbrew

• Wine: Wine, champagne/sparkling wine, fortified wine, or aperitif

• White spirits: Vodka, gin, rum, tequila

• Dark spirits: Cognac, brandy, scotch, bourbon, whiskey/whisky, cordials, and liqueurs

• RTD (ready-to-drink) beverages: Coolers, cocktails, hard cider, non-alcoholic mixers

For the purposes of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive consumer research through Lightspeed GMI to explore Black consumers’ attitudes and behaviors toward alcoholic beverages. Mintel was responsible for the survey design, data analysis, and reporting. Fieldwork was conducted in September 2014 among a sample of 920 Black adults aged 22+ with access to the internet.

Mintel selects survey respondents so that they are proportionally representative of the US Black adult population using the internet based on the key demographics of gender, age, and region. For this study, Mintel applies poststratification weights to survey respondents so that results are proportionally balanced to the entire US Black adult population. Please note that our surveys are conducted online and in English only. Black Hispanics who are not online and/or do not speak English are not included in our survey results.

Mintel has also analyzed data from Experian Marketing Services, using the NHCS (Simmons National Hispanic Consumer Study).

The Experian Marketing Services, Simmons NHCS was carried out during April 2013-June 2014, and the results are based on the sample of 23,133 adults 21+ (including 2,019 Blacks), with results weighted to represent the US adult population.

While race and Hispanic origin are separate demographic characteristics, Mintel often compares them to each other. Please note that the responses for race (White, Black, Asian, Native American, or other race) will overlap those that also are Hispanic, because Hispanics can be of any race.

The following is a list of abbreviations used in this report:

Generations are discussed within this report, and they are defined as:

* also known as Generation Y or Echo Boomers