European Beverages: Real-time US alcohol spend steps up in May, per proprietary Barclaycard data

Research evidence excerpt

European Beverages: Real-time US alcohol spend steps up in May, per proprietary Barclaycard data

Equity Research

10 June 2026

European Beverages

Real-time US alcohol spend steps

up in May, per proprietary

European Consumer StaplesBarclaycard data

NEUTRAL

In this eleventh iteration, we share proprietary US European Consumer Staples

Laurence WhyattBarclaycard data on alcohol spend. The May'26 print saw a

+4.8% yoy increase, which points to ongoing recovery, with +44laurence.whyatt@barclays.com(0)20 7773 5324

sustained momentum in total alcobev spend. See below for Barclays, UK

regional performance in the US. Ashutosh Jain

+91 (0)22 6175 1452

ashutosh.jain@barclays.com

Alcohol spending in the US has been under pressure for several years, with a broad consensus Barclays, UK

among companies that the weakness is more cyclical than structural. The latest May data

Data Science & Applied AIpoints to an ongoing recovery, with accelerating momentum, as total spending rose 4.8%

Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason(iv)year on year, supported by strong bar spend (+7.6%) and liquor store spend (+1.9%).

+1 212 526 0916

haviland.sheldahl-thomason@barclays.comOur data suggest that bars have shown greater resilience than liquor stores, with bar spending

BCI, US

inflecting into positive territory on a rolling 12-month basis from the September 2025 print.

While this is a strong data point, there are mixed signals emerging from the broader US market.

The Conference Board consumer confidence tracker showed slight sequential softness in May,

whilst the University of Michigan confidence tracker showed material sequential weakness over

the same period.

Consistent with this, the latest Nielsen data (Beverages: US NielsenIQ interim insights, 1w/e