Pennsylvania

Pennsylvanians Spent More Money on Alcohol Than Ever Before in 2021

Overall, Pennsylvanians preferred liquor to wine this past year, reports the Philadelphia Business Journal

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Pennsylvanians spent record amounts on alcohol during the 2021 fiscal year, buying $2.91 billion worth of spirits and wine, reports the Philadelphia Business Journal.

That figure represents a $349.4 million increase over the year prior and beat out the pre-pandemic-era record of $2.67 billion set in the 2019 fiscal year, according to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board's annual report.

A significant portion of those sales came from Greater Philadelphia, reports PBJ.com. Five of the six top-selling counties were Philadelphia and its four collar counties. All together, some $702 million was spent on liquor and wine in the Philadelphia region, with Montgomery, Bucks, Chester and Delaware counties following Philadelphia for highest sales, in that order.

Delaware County saw one of the highest year-over-year sales rate growths, with a 32% increase compared to fiscal 2020. All five Philadelphia-area counties increased wine and liquor sales by over 16% with Philadelphia consumers spending a total of $210 million on wine and spirits.

As demand rose, the state looked to address storage and distribution and in October 2020, Pennsylvania opened a new distribution center in Philadelphia that doubled the amount of product storage. It now serves 164 Fine Wines and Good Spirits stores in the southeastern region of the state.

The data also pointed to trends in which areas residents purchased, with Philadelphians spending more on brandy and cognac than elsewhere. The more than $40 million in sales was double the amount spent on those spirits in any other county in the state.

PBJ.com has full details on the top-selling types of alcohol. The top-seller might surprise you.

Keep up with all your business news at the Philadelphia Business Journal.

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