What’s Really Going On With GenZ and Alcohol?
A sociological deep dive is coming. Plus, I need your opinion.
Thank you for all the emails!
Yes, it’s been a while since I posted on Drinks Insider, though the podcast is appearing regularly, as usual.
I’ve been quietly working on a major project, which I’m hoping to publish here this week.
Eliot Reyner/Unsplash
What’s up with GenZ?
A couple of financial institutions recently published reports about the drinking habits of GenZ.
(NB: GenZed, not GenZee, because this is a safe space for civilisation).
The one that got the most attention was the Rabobank report, which suggested younger people are drinking less because they’re broke, and as their income rises, this may change. Barclays Bank also issued a report about alcohol, which was quite optimistic (thank you to the three people who forwarded me the report, which was written for private clients).
As it happens, the end of April saw another massive report published. This one is a work of sociology, based on a multi-country study, and drawing on decades of data. It’s taken me quite a while to get through it, because it’s a beast. It’s dense with studies and numbers, and it’s written in the worst kind of academic prose, but I’m gradually teasing out the conclusions.
Keep an eye on this space, because I’ll publish as soon as I can.
Meanwhile, can you offer an opinion?
Drinks Insider began as a newsletter about drinks entrepreneurialism, with the newsletter based on the podcast interviews. But since I added the occasional series Wine + Health to the podcast roster, I’ve also written some posts about the anti-alcohol lobby.
I want to write a lot more about the anti-alcohol lobby, but I’ve hesitated because the topic clashes somewhat with the original idea. So now I’m considering splitting Drinks Insider into two newsletters and relaunching at the end of June. This will take some doing, because there are backend issues with moving paid subscribers to a new home.
But this would be a mistake if readers like both topics.
What do you think?
Let me know your thoughts, and thanks so much for your patience.
Edward Slingerland/Supplied
Why do we drink alcohol?
A few weeks ago, I had historian Edward Slingerland on the podcast. He’s the author of Drunk: How We Sipped, Stumbled, and Danced Our Way to Civilization, in which he argues that alcohol is the key to civilisation.
He argues that alcohol is a cultural technology that helped early humans forge larger cooperative societies, overcoming the limitations of small-group living.
It’s been my most downloaded episode to date! It was a great conversation and I recommend it highly (if I say so myself!). The book is a cracking read, too.
Jonathan Steyn/Supplied
A window into innovation
The other recent episode that generated a lot of feedback was my interview with Jonathan Steyn, who teaches wine business at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town. He had a lot of interesting things to say about innovation, and how to innovate when resources are tight. He also talked about values, and how adhering too tightly to a single set of values can cause business problems. I really enjoyed the conversation, because it goes off into some unexpected directions.
Anyway, let me know your thoughts — and look out for the upcoming report.