Jefferies beverage analyst Ed Mundy unpacks why alcohol’s post-pandemic slowdown isn’t a single story but a whole world of pressure. There are the macro shocks like tariffs and foreign exchange. The health and wellness trend. The shifting social role of alcohol.

And a big question about whether the industry is doing itself any favours in its approach to marketing and innovation.

In this conversation, Ed gets specific about what’s working and what isn’t; why some of the fastest-growing US products are cheap and fun; why GLP-1 drugs show a measurable but not catastrophic drag on alcohol; and why non-alcoholic beer has cracked taste and stigma while wine and spirits are still wrestling with the physics of flavour and mouthfeel.

Meet your host:

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor, speaker trainer and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker at international events, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.

And Drinks Insider is an award-winning podcast! It has won the 67 Pall Mall Global Wine Communicator Award in Audio.