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<\/p>\nST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Americans are drinking far less than they used to, reshaping how bars and breweries operate in the Tampa Bay area.<\/p>\n
What we know:<\/p>\n
According to the Financial Times, five of the world\u2019s largest alcohol makers are sitting on $22 billion worth of unsold inventory, reflecting a significant slowdown in global demand.<\/p>\n
At Paddy Wagon Irish Pub in Citrus Park, drinks were flowing throughout happy hour on Friday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Owner Bryan Cardwell is looking forward to Super Bowl Sunday, which brings a boost to his business.<\/p>\n
“Super Bowl<\/a> is the last game of the year, so we need to go out with a bang,” he said.<\/p>\n READ: Three Lake Gibson High School grads will participate in Super Bowl LX<\/a><\/p>\n By the numbers:<\/p>\n Nationwide, alcohol consumption fell to 54% of U.S. adults in 2025, the lowest level in nearly 90 years, according to a Gallup poll<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cardwell has seen the shift firsthand from behind the bar.<\/p>\n “We sold a lot more non-alcoholic beer in January,” he said. “That was more than any other month of the year and even more than last January too.”<\/p>\n In St. Petersburg<\/a>, 3 Daughters Brewing has seen a significant shift in customer preference, with 50% of its sales coming from non-beer beverages.<\/p>\n What they’re saying:<\/p>\n Chief Operations Officer Brian Horne says his company has diversified its products to keep pace with demand.<\/p>\n “We started making non-alcoholic beverages, energy drinks, THC-infused drinks and whiskey,” Horne said. “We\u2019ve turned from a brewery into a beverage company.”<\/p>\n Jeremy Knauff, the CEO of Spartan Media, a public relations firm that works with brands on strategy, said alcohol companies are struggling to attract younger consumers.<\/p>\n READ: Tampa brewery wins 2 gold medals at U.S. Open Beer Championship<\/a><\/p>\n “Inflation is through the roof,” he said. “A lot of people can\u2019t afford to go out and drink, so they\u2019re staying at home.”<\/p>\n Local perspective:<\/p>\n Rows of freshly packaged cans are stacked throughout the warehouse in St. Pete, reflecting the 3 Daughters push to stay competitive in a changing market.<\/p>\n Horne says the brewery became the first in Florida to move its six-packs from 12-ounce cans to 16-ounce cans without raising prices, giving customers 33% more beer for the same cost.<\/p>\n “You\u2019ve got to find a way to produce value,” he concluded. “We actually ended the year positive last year and that is because we really revamped our whole portfolio.”<\/p>\n As alcohol consumption declines nationwide, local businesses say innovation is key in order to stay afloat.<\/p>\n The Source: Information for this story came from statements from the Financial Times, 2025 Gallop poll, an interview with the chief operating officer of 3 Daughters Brewing, an interview with the owner of Paddy Wagon Irish Pub and reporting from previous coverage on FOX 13 News.<\/p>\n Tampa Bay<\/a>Food and Drink<\/a>Consumer<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Americans are drinking far less than they used to, reshaping how bars and breweries…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1917,47,4451,555,115,135,1526,137,136,628],"class_list":["post-146905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-consumer","tag-fl","tag-food-drink","tag-lifestyle","tag-news","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/vlcsnap-2026-02-06-22h36m19s911.jpg\")
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