The world came to a halt in October, and we’re still dealing with the implications of it. I see a lot of different data feeds through our business — sales figures, online traffic, consumer lead volume, paper tonnage, hauling weights — and everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, took a preciptious turn down in October. You remember, right? The Credit Crisis Redux, the outgoing president proclaiming, “This sucker is going down,” and the encroaching realization we all had that we didn’t need to buy all the things that we were buying.
But beer?
Seriously, beer sales dropped by 14% in the fourth quarter. It’s unheard of for a consumer staple to drop that sharply.
Look at the chart to the right, which shows the quarterly change in alcholol sales in red, and the quarterly change in real GDP in blue. Alcholol sales are neither a leading or a lagging indicator. They just are.
In fact, alcholol sales had been experiencing a couple of really strong quarters.
But then, they plummet.
What happened? Everyone scared cold sober?
What do you think?
(Thanks to 538.com for the great data.)
