A Global Alcohol Industry

REVIEW

doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2008.02430.x

The global alcohol industry: an overview
David H. Jernigan
Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

ABSTRACT Aims To describe the globalized sector of the alcoholic beverage industry, including its size, principal actors and activities. Methods Market research firms and business journalism are the primary sources for information about the global alcohol industry, and are used to profile the size and membership of the three main industry sectors of beer, distilled spirits and wine. Findings Branded alcoholic beverages are approximately 38% of recorded alcohol consumption world-wide. Producers of these beverages tend to be large multi-national corporations reliant on marketing for their survival. Marketing activities include traditional advertising as well as numerous other activities, such as new product development, product placement and the creation and promotion of social responsibility programs, messages and organizations. Conclusions The global alcohol industry is highly concentrated and innovative. There is relatively little public health research evaluating the impact of its many marketing activities. Keywords alcohol, advertising, marketing, globalization, multi-nationals, responsibility.

Correspondence to: David H. Jernigan, Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, 2nd Floor, Baltimore, MD 21205-1996, USA. E-mail: [e-mail] Submitted 5 December 2007; initial review completed 25 January 2008; final version accepted 20 October 2008

INTRODUCTION Alcohol can be made from a wide variety of agricultural inputs, and is produced both formally and informally throughout the world. The ‘industry’ producing alcoholic beverages may take many forms, including a single woman or a group of women brewing traditional beer in an African village; a network of industrial

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