New Year’s Eve: Champagne likely ‘the top seller’ but not without competition, expert says

Champagne is typically the alcohol of choice for New Year's Eve festivities but this year, it has some competition, according to one expert.

"Something interesting happening this year is that in the month of December when we compare year-over-year, we're actually seeing that prosecco is experiencing quite significant growth, about a 20% increase, while champagne is seeing a 4% decrease," Drizly Head of Consumer Insights Liz Paquette told Yahoo Finance (video above). "So while we're still anticipating that champagne is going to likely take that top spot for New Year's Eve, we expect some consumers to be turning to prosecco and some other alternative sparkling wines this year."

Sales of high-priced drinks like champagne has been slowing. High inflation has changed consumer behavior as customers either trade down or opt for alternatives. Additionally, last year's supply chain crisis caused a champagne shortage, which drove up prices of bottles.

The average price of champagne this year is $55.85 but it can cost up to $73 in some states, whereas prosecco costs an average of $14-$20.

Since 2020, a 750-milliliter bottle of champagne has seen a 25% increase in the average unit price. Over the past year, it's grown by roughly 6%. Meanwhile, Paquette noted, growth is "a little bit on the softer side" for prosecco, which is why many consumers are turning to it as an alternative.

Don't count out spirits

Despite growing demand for cheaper sparkling wine alternatives to champagne, Paquette said that other liquors like spirits shouldn't be counted out either.

"Consumers do definitely purchase spirits and spirit accompaniments to make cocktails on this holiday," she said. "We see pretty significant increases in liqueurs, cordials, schnapps [along with] pretty significant growth in tequila, in particular."

According to the Distilled Spirits Council, tequila saw record growth in its market share in 2022, dominating the distilled spirits industry with $1.2 billion revenue,