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Booze sales trending up

A study by the restaurant research firm Technomic confirms a recent trend:

It pays to have a liquor license. (Apropos of the South Philly BYOB Fond, which moves to larger, liquor-licensed digs this week.)

Sales of alcohol in the United States increased in 2011 and will continue to rise, according to the study, published today in Nation's Restaurant News.

Technomic's 2012 BarTAB (Trends in Adult Beverage) report showed that sales of beer, wine, and spirits in restaurants increased 4.9 percent in 2011, reaching $93.7 billion. This figure is trending up for 2012 and 2013.

Technomic believes it is pent-up demand left over from the recession.

(Funny, popular belief holds that people drink more in hard times.)

In Pennsylvania, sales of wine and spirits at state stores were up more than 5 percent year over year. For the year that ended June 30, it was nearly $2.1 billion, generating $494 million in profit.

The NRN report is here.