Alcohol

[GTM 3442]

A generous year ago, I slipped some money into a US ETF - The Whisky Fund (ticker WSKY). They basically invested in brewers and distillers across the world.

Over the year or so, they gave me a bit of a dividend, about a 20% gain, and a lot of laughs. After all, there I was in the position of being able to try drinking myself rich!

Now they've wound up and given me my money back.

Is there any other fund or ETF with the same focus, or am I simply reduced to buying AB Inbev and Diageo?

[audiav]

He he, nice wee story and nice broad thread topic title.

Found this while looking for any Diageo threads. Did you reinvest in anything?

I’ve started building a stake in Diageo. Recent troubles in Latin America and now China with its brandy investigation has sent Diageo price downwards. Figured I’d get in before Berkshire tops up.

[GTM 3442]

Diageo falls at my dividend yield hurdle, and the current downtrend in the price keeps it off the table. Same for AB-Inbev.

[kiwical]

I was expecting to do some research here that showed global alcohol consumption is falling. And it did over 2023 and seems to be flat for 2024. But projections say it is going to rise again over the next few years. Surprised me a bit. I don't think it's an industry that's going to increase hugely though. Maybe look at the zero alcohol companies instead? There is definitely increasing sales there.........You can even do some micro research and look at how big the 0% shelf is in your local supermarket or off licence compared to a year or 3 ago.

[GTM 3442]

points taken, but I'd be interested to see who's making the zero-alcohol products, and where they're positioned in the market. When it comes to beer, are they marketed as a replacement for (say) Speights, or are they pitched at a "premium" (craft beer) market?

Profit doesn't necessarily come from volume, and the big boys are smart enough to know this.

[audiav]

Diageo falls at my dividend yield hurdle, and the current downtrend in the price keeps it off the table. Same for AB-Inbev.

The trend was not my friend on this one and I exited. The alcopops seem popular with the youngsters and also no alcohol. And the Asian market has not been great.

[GTM 3442]

The trend was not my friend on this one and I exited. The alcopops seem popular with the youngsters and also no alcohol. And the Asian market has not been great.

I think alcohol's in a bit of a flux at present. I'm curious to know on a global scale where the alcohol-free momentum is coming from. Is it Heineken Zero cannibalizing normal Heineken, with the sales staying within the broader Heineken group, or is it (say) Garage Project Tiny cannibalizing normal Heineken, with the sales moving outside of the broader Heineken group.

With spirits, I really only follow whisky, and what I see is a move "upmarket" toward premium-price/premium-profit bottles. From Johnny Walker rainbow of Red to Black to Green to Blue and the swamp of snobbery that is the single malt market.

I don't understand how it's going at the moment, so I have given up on the idea of drinking myself rich.