February 23/Chicago/PRWEB -- Brand matters to customers who order vodka at bars, nightclubs, restaurants, and other outlets serving alcohol beverages, according to the soon-to-be-released Beverage Alcohol Report (BAR) by The NPD Group. The report, which profiles habits, attitudes and brand preferences for on-premise beverage alcohol consumption, also finds that men and women have generally the same preference in the top vodka brands, but brand preference varies among age groups.

Grey Goose is the most popular brand with men and women evenly, followed by Absolut, also equally preferred by both genders, according to the report “Understanding What Motivates On-Premise Beverage Alcohol Choices.” The report, which surveyed a U.S. representative sample of 33,750 adults, 21 years and older, finds that Smirnoff, Ketel One and Stoli/Stolichnaya, follow respectively as top brands, and men slightly prefer these brands over women.

Looking at the 21-34, 35-49 and 50 and older age groups, Grey Goose, Absolut and Smirnoff earned the one, two, three top spots among all age groups. The 21-49-year-olds preferred Grey Goose slightly more than the 50+ age group, 21-34-year-olds preferred Smirnoff significantly more than the 35-49-year-olds, and the 35 and older groups liked Absolut significantly more than the 21-34 age group. An outlier is that Ketel One is significantly more popular with the 35-49-year-olds than with 21-34-year-olds.

“Thirty-six percent of beverages ordered by adults, 21 and older, away-from-home are alcohol beverages,” says Warren Solochek, vice president, foodservice at NPD. “Consumers have an almost unlimited amount of beverage choices, and understanding how and why they make the choices they do is key to increasing sales and growing share.”

From the February 23, 2012, Prepared Foods' Daily News.