Americans are drinking less than at any point in nearly nine decades of Gallup polling, adding another layer of pressure for New York wineries, breweries and distilleries already confronting higher costs, disrupted distribution networks and a rapidly changing consumer market.
Gallup found 54% of U.S. adults say they drink alcohol, unchanged from last year and the lowest level recorded since the organization began tracking alcohol use in 1939. The share has fallen sharply from 62% in 2023 to 58% in 2024 and 54% last year, then remained at that level in 2026.
The numbers arrive at a consequential moment for New York’s craft beverage industry. Just days before Gallup released its findings, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer met with Finger Lakes wineries, breweries, distilleries and other businesses in Schuyler County to discuss what industry leaders described as overlapping challenges from changing drinking habits, tariffs and major disruptions in the distribution system.
Those pressures matter well beyond individual tasting rooms and breweries. New York has grown into the nation’s second-largest craft beer market, with more than 500 breweries and an estimated $4.8 billion economic impact, according to figures cited by Schumer’s office. The state is also the country’s third-largest wine producer, while the New York Wine & Grape Foundation estimates the wine and grape industries generate more than $16.8 billion in direct economic impact.
In the Finger Lakes, where wineries and breweries are closely tied to agriculture, tourism, restaurants and rural employment, declining alcohol consumption presents a demand-side challenge that producers can’t solve simply by cutting shipping costs or finding a new distributor.
Americans are increasingly skeptical of alcohol
Gallup’s latest survey suggests the decline is being driven in part by changing views about alcohol and health.
Fifty-one percent of Americans now believe drinking one or two alcoholic beverages per day is bad for a person’s health, essentially unchanged from last year’s record-high 53%. That’s nearly double the 27% who held that view when Gallup asked the question in 2001.
Awareness of research into alcohol’s long-term health effects has also increased. Eighty-six percent of Americans said they’ve heard at least something about recent studies on drinking and health, up from 79% in 2024.
At the same time, fewer Americans report overdrinking. Just 13% now say they sometimes drink too much, another record low. Before 2000, more than 20% routinely gave that answer, including 35% in 1989.
The decline since 2023 has crossed most major demographic groups, including men, women and adults across age groups.
Even among those who continue to drink, consumption appears relatively restrained. Gallup found drinkers reported consuming an average of 3.2 alcoholic drinks during the previous week, compared with an average of 3.9 across the five surveys before 2025.
For Finger Lakes producers, the timing is difficult
Changing consumer habits were specifically among the concerns raised during Schumer’s meeting this week at the Schuyler County Business Park.
Producers are simultaneously dealing with higher prices for aluminum, ingredients, equipment, packaging and other materials, along with uncertainty surrounding U.S. tariffs and retaliatory trade measures affecting Canada.
That market has been particularly important to New York wineries. Canada had become the largest foreign market for American wine, and Finger Lakes producers had gained increased access to Ontario through the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.
According to Schumer’s office, retaliatory measures following U.S. tariffs in 2025 contributed to an approximately $581 million, or 81%, decline in Canadian imports of U.S. alcoholic beverages over a one-year period.
Distribution problems closer to home have created another complication.
Four major disruptions have hit the industry over roughly six months. Clyde-based freight forwarder DNT Express closed in March. Manhattan Beer & Beverage acquired Opici Wine Distributor’s New York portfolio in May. National distributor RNDC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July. The closure of Pleasant Valley Wine Company also eliminated a regional storage and distribution resource.
Together, those changes have left some producers looking for new freight forwarding, cold storage and distribution options at the same time they’re trying to adjust to weaker consumption trends.
Schumer is backing a New York Wine & Grape Foundation application for $500,000 through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Supply Chain Acceleration and Logistics Enablement Program. The funding would be used to study the feasibility of a producer-owned logistics cooperative serving wineries, breweries, distilleries and cider producers.
The proposed cooperative could consolidate storage and shipping capacity and help smaller producers reach markets that may otherwise be difficult or expensive to access. The grant has not yet been awarded.
The market itself is changing
The industry’s challenge isn’t necessarily that Americans are abandoning alcohol altogether. A majority still drink, and preferences continue to move within the category.
Beer remains the most commonly preferred alcoholic beverage nationally, but its lead has narrowed significantly. Gallup found 36% of drinkers prefer beer, compared with 32% for liquor and 30% for wine.
Over the past decade, liquor has gained 12 percentage points while beer has fallen seven. Wine has remained relatively stable near 30%.
Another market is beginning to emerge alongside those traditional categories.
For the first time, Gallup asked Americans whether they’ve substituted nonalcoholic beer, wine or spirits for alcoholic drinks. Seventeen percent said they had done so during the previous year, including 20% of people who still drink alcohol.
Among drinkers who consume nonalcoholic alternatives, 38% said they’re drinking more of them than they used to, compared with 17% who said they’re drinking less.
For New York producers, those numbers could ultimately represent both a challenge and an opportunity. The state spent more than a decade expanding its craft beverage sector through new breweries, wineries, distilleries and cideries. The next phase may depend less on adding producers and more on how existing businesses respond to consumers who are drinking differently — or deciding not to drink at all.
That’s what makes the Gallup numbers particularly relevant in the Finger Lakes. Tariffs can change, distributors can be replaced and supply chains can be rebuilt. A lasting shift in consumer behavior is a more fundamental problem.
New York’s craft beverage businesses are now navigating all of those forces at once.
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