BeerBoard manages over $1 billion in retail draft beer sales and 45,000 products through our industry-leading technology. This generates incredible amounts of data and gives great insights to performance, style and brand trends within the beer industry.
BeerBoard’s Thanksgiving Eve Report is an interesting and fun look at on-premise consumption for one of the biggest party nights of the year.
Our series of Pour Reports are always based on a curated sample set from our database with same-store sales year-over- year. For this report, data is based on the day prior to Thanksgiving for 2018 and 2017 (Thanksgiving Eve). Where applicable, comparisons are made against a “regular Wednesday” one week prior in the same year.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Cheers!
The BeerBoard Team
BeerBoard Report: Thanksgiving Eve Trends
The question has to be asked. Is Thanksgiving Eve, the biggest party night of the year? People tend to return to their hometowns, gathering with family and friends; official or unofficial high school reunions are held. Wherever people are gathering, it seems most are at a bar where the beer is flowing.
Big Bump over a “Regular” Wednesday
Thanksgiving Eve sees a big bump over a “regular Wednesday.” In 2018, there was a 52.8% lift nationally when compared to the previous Wednesday (the “Regular Wednesday” in our data). This was a massive jump, even though is was actually down 4% from 2017’s Thanksgiving Eve.
Northeast Bias? On This Night at Least.
While Thanksgiving Eve is a boon for retailers everywhere, it may not be bigger anywhere than for those in the Northeast. The region sees an overall jump of +70.8% (again over the previous Wednesday), the largest such gain for any region in the country. Other leaders include the Great Lakes, which was +51% in 2018 and California (+50%).
Leading The Way
BeerBoard’s hometown of Syracuse saw a lift of a nation-leading 83.1% in 2018, while region neighbor Rochester was a close second at +80.4%. Chicago checked in at +51%, while Atlanta was at 20.7%
Styles Stay in Place
On this night, Light Lager continues to have a firm grip on the #1 position followed by Lagers at #2 and IPA at #3.
Mexican Lagers Trending Nationally
Thanksgiving Eve 2018 saw an explosion on Mexican style lager drafts. Modelo Especial was +46% on the night as compared to 2017, while Dos Equis was +18.8%. When looking at Thanksgiving Eve 2018 against a regular Wednesday (one week prior), Modelo was +15.4% and Dos Equis was +8.9% on the night.
A little deeper on those Mexican Lagers
In the West region, Modelo spiked +106.7% on the night over 2017, while Dos Equis was +26.7%. In California, where Modelo checked in as the #1 brand and grew 47.4% (2018 over 2017), while Dos Equis was up an even healthier +52.7%. Both brands also noted significant growth in the Great Lakes region, where Modelo was +41.7% and Dos Equis was +38.6%.
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About BeerBoard
BeerBoard is a leading technology company enabling the food & beverage industry to make data-driven decisions about its bar business. It manages over $1 billion in retail draft beer sales and 45,000 products through its industry-leading solution. The company’s patented digital platform captures, analyzes, and reports real-time data related to bar performance, brand insights and inventory. Built for retailers, brewers and distributors, the versatile online system is easily operated from a single dashboard, and it has streamlined operations and increased top and bottom line revenue all over the United States. Find out more about how BeerBoard is changing the bar industry through data-based business decisions at https://beerboard.com/