The Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division says the final total of sales revenue, licensing fees and fines turned over to the state in the fiscal year that ended June 30th was $107-million. A-B-D spokesperson, Tonya Dusold, says that’s a record amount.
She says 2009 was the previous record and they beat that by about two-million dollars. Dusold says the licensing and other fees brought in $11-million and there were around $150,000 in fines paid — as both were about the same as past years. The additional dollars came from people buying more liquor.
Dusold says an increase in spirit sales was the main driver as they saw around 7.5% increase in vodka sales, and pre-mixed cocktails were up about 7.25%. Dusold says people were buying the less expensive, or “value brand” vodkas. She says the mid to lower-shelf brands of vodkas are cheaper ounce-for-ounce and right now they make up five of the top ten selling brands.
Wine sales stayed the same, while beer sales dropped slightly. Dusold says the drop in beer sales could be attributed to younger consumers buying more of the flavored alcohols, and they see that in the products offered by alcohol companies.
Dusold says they are seeing a lot of the flavored drinks sold and a lot of the convenient pre-mixed drinks, as she says you used to only see pre-mixed margaritas, but now you see almost any kind of pre-mixed cocktail. She says they also see the flavors moving from traditional vodkas and rums to gins and whiskeys too.
You can find out more about state liquor sales on the Iowa Alcholic Beverages Division website at: www.iowaabd.com.