Insights from Our 2025 Beverage Industry Career and Salary Report
By Shana Clarke
The fourth edition of SevenFifty Daily’s industry-wide survey shows a sector grappling with economic headwinds—yet remaining cautiously optimistic about the future
What draws people to the beverage industry is its dynamism—always evolving to confront new challenges and cultural shifts. This dynamism was on display in Provi and SevenFifty Daily’s 2023 Beverage Industry Career & Salary Report, which revealed a landscape dramatically altered in the wake of the pandemic. And this year’s survey, just two years later, demonstrates a workforce again adapting to seismic shifts.
Today’s market presents unique challenges to the beverage industry, with younger generations and newly health-conscious consumers turning away from alcohol in record numbers, alongside the economic fallout of inflation and President Donald Trump’s erratic tariff policy, which has hit every sector. For industry members, however, feelings about the industry’s future in light of these headwinds, as well as on their career progression and compensation, aren’t necessarily what we might predict—and also offer bright spots of optimism for the future.
More than 1,100 beverage professionals responded to the anonymous survey from every trade tier, including retailers, restaurant and bar staff, importers, distributors, producers, and more. Their responses revealed an industry coming to terms with a changing market, seeking avenues for growth both professional and financial, and, ultimately, remaining hopeful. Here are three key takeaways—or download the full report now.
Tariffs Displace Sustainability as the Industry’s Primary Concern
Since February 1, when Trump first announced the 25 percent tax on all goods from Canada and Mexico, there has been a litany of announcements and postponements regarding global tariffs, creating trade tensions and leaving the U.S. beverage industry scrambling to adapt. More than three-quarters of respondents (77 percent) expressed being “very concerned” about these policies, an increase of 27 percentage points from two years ago when a suspension was in place under former President Joe Biden.
“I think it’s a very challenging time for the greater beverage alcohol industry,” says Chris Swonger, the CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, mirroring our respondents’ concern. “As tariffs settle in, it will have a cost impact on the end product. That could have some impact on consumers trading up or buying that special bottle of Scotch or Cognac.”
While retaliatory tariffs impacting alcohol are, for now, limited, that could change rapidly. According to Swonger, American spirits producers lost 65 percent of their business in Canada during the trade dispute in March. It is the uncertainty that is causing the most strain. “The biggest concern that we have is there’s a lack of predictability in the spirits industry,” he says.
Tom Wark, the executive director of the National Association of Wine Retailers (NAWR), seconds that sentiment, noting that it carries through to the off-premise. “When you don’t have a grasp on what your inventory costs will be, caution takes over,” says Wark. “Reduced hiring is a reflection of caution as much as it is a downturn in sales.”
With tariffs dominating the conversation, other previously pressing concerns, namely sustainability, no longer command as much attention. Sustainable packaging and climate change were the top two industry issues of growing concern according to respondents in our 2023 survey; this year, both fell more than 10 percentage points. Similarly, organic, biodynamic, and sustainable beverages are trending down with only half of respondents ranking them as growing in importance.
This sentiment was reflected at the NAWR Summit in May 2025. “I don’t think I heard the words sustainable, organic, and biodynamic come up one single time over the course of two days,” says Wark. “I did not hear a single word about sustainable wines and how they’re selling. It’s clearly not the most concerning thing for retailers right now.”
Charlotte Hey, the executive director of International Wineries for Climate Action, which counts over 170 wineries in 14 countries as members, believes the data doesn’t necessarily indicate a drop in concern but rather a change. “What has taken a hit is the term ‘sustainability,’” she says. “It’s such a woolly term. I think it’s part of the development of how we are moving forward in terms of all of the aspects that make up sustainability.”
Those who are truly committed, Hey believes, will continue to define and invest in their priority areas. “The people who perhaps might have been paying lip service or doing it because they felt they had to do it before, they’ve dropped away,” she says, referring to greenwashing that has long been prevalent.
While industry members are being more careful about where they spend their money, Hey notes regenerative farming and sustainable packaging remain top developmental areas for producers. “The majority of conscientious wine producers already have [sustainable packaging] in their value chain and in their operational decisions. They know that reducing [bottle] weight is an advantage to any business plan going forward.”
Challenges Abound in the Off-Premise
While much of the industry has struggled amidst the economic turbulence of the last few years, our data suggests that the off-premise is the tier most negatively impacted. “When sales are down, as they have been for quite some time, there is less hiring, and when there are fewer positions open, salaries tend to retreat,” says Wark. “This is the situation we are in now, and there do not appear to be any signs of the downturn in wine sales (and hiring) abating in the near term.”
The median reported salary in retail was $20,000 less than the overall median for the beverage industry. That’s true even as 88 percent of off-premise respondents held ownership or manager-level roles. It was also the only tier that did not see an increase in median salary since 2023, with 72 percent of respondents not receiving a raise in the past two and a half years. Consequently, perhaps, off-premise workers are feeling the most pessimistic about the future. Only 22 percent viewed their opportunities for professional growth within the tier as “very good” or “excellent,” a drop of 15 percentage points over 2023.
“The data is a reflection of what everyone working in and around the off-premise marketplace understands: The past two years have been among the most difficult retail environments for wine we have seen in decades,” says Wark. As the survey shows, stress levels have also increased over 2023.
From left to right: Chris Swonger, the CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (photo courtesy of DISCUS); Tom Wark, the executive director of the National Association of Wine Retailers (photo courtesy of Tom Wark); Charlotte Hey, the executive director of International Wineries for Climate Action (photo courtesy of Charlotte Hey); and Deborah Brenner, the founder and CEO of Women of the Vine and Spirits (photo courtesy of Deborah Brenner).
The retail environment has changed, not just from the drop in consumption but from a proliferation of competition in the form of new beverage categories. “Wine no longer competes with beer and spirits,” says Wark. “It competes with RTDs, hard cider, hard seltzer, hard kombucha, canned cocktails, THC-infused beverages, and a number of other relatively new categories that had little impact twenty years ago.” He notes younger consumers in particular are opting for alternatives.
The fallout of this reaches producers, too, with brewers turning to cannabis beverages and hard seltzers to offset losses. “New beverage options are driving craft brewers to reconsider their own portfolios,” says Matt Gacioch, the staff economist for the Brewers Association. “Others are bringing in these new products from elsewhere to sell in their taprooms. Craft beer production was down in 2024, but at least some of that capacity was taken up by brewers expanding beyond beer production.”
The Gender Pay Gap Is Narrowing
Despite the challenges, a cautious optimism prevails. Respondents rated their optimism about the future of the industry on average at 3.7 out of 5. This might be because compensation is looking up, with the median salary increasing seven percent over our 2023 survey, with the biggest leaps happening in the on-premise and producer tiers. (However, it’s important to note this only slightly outpaces inflation.)
One bright spot in the data was in the gender pay gap. Last time we looked at this issue, in our 2019 survey, men outearned women by $12,000. The 2025 results showed just $4,000 median salary difference. The beverage industry is also closer to gender parity than the national average; women in beverage earn on average $0.95 per dollar to men compared to $0.85 nationally
“More companies now understand that pay equity isn’t just the right thing—it’s a business imperative for retention and recruitment,” says Deborah Brenner, the founder and CEO of Women of the Vine and Spirits, an organization that mentors and empowers women in the wine industry. “Salary transparency, mentorship, and leadership development for women are making a measurable impact. Companies are also placing more emphasis on intentional hiring and promotion practices, ensuring women have the same opportunities for leadership roles and higher-paying positions.” Brenner says opportunities for women are growing at every level, from production to corporate roles.
This progress might be indicative of the work of DEI programs, many of which were launched in 2020, but have since been widely dismantled after an Executive Order in January 2025 from Trump. Nearly half of respondents were more concerned about this policy shift than they were about the impact of AI, generational shifts away from wine, and pressure from anti-alcohol messaging.
“I believe we will continue to see progress in closing the gender pay gap in the industry as the demand for great talent continues to grow,” says Brenner. “However, systemic change to an industry requires ongoing commitment, transparency, and accountability from all levels of leadership in all industry sectors and across all three tiers.”