In the Western world, yoga has been touted for its many benefits, including its ability to help people to improve their posture and balance. But equilibrium is not the only place people are seeking balance. In the on-premise channel, proprietors also are striving to meet this goal as beverage alcohol consumption fluctuates and consumers are taking a closer look at quality as well as value.

Matt Gallagher, client success director for CGA by NielsenIQ, explains that in on-premise, traditional beverage alcohol had seen value and volume declines in 2024.

In the early part of this year, on-premise has weathered challenges.

“Despite cost-related challenges, spend in the on-premise is up versus [year ago] (YA), but return on sales is down,” Gallagher says. “Increase in spend was related more with inflated prices than uplifted consumption.”

Bank of America Institute released an Insight in February titled “Raising the bar or last call?” showing that consumers still are visiting bars, but also notes the decrease in dollar sales.

“Consumers are heading to the bars rather than imbibing at home, according to Bank of America aggregated card data,” the Insight states. “Spending at bars was up 1% year-over-year (YoY) in January 2025, an improvement since last fall, but significantly slower than the 26% YoY growth rate two years ago. Meanwhile, spending at alcohol stores decreased 5% YoY in January.”

The channel also has seen a growing interest in ready-to-drink (RTD), which has served as a growth opportunity for the channel, NielsenIQ’s Gallagher notes. In addition to this, operations are exploring a host of ways to engage with consumers.

“We believe that it is a matter of striking a balance between value and quality is important for venues,” he says. “In terms of the top factors that customers consider with deciding which cafes, bars or restaurants to visit, [it’s] No. 1 price, No. 2 value for money and No. 3 the quality of food available.”

As on-premise outlets look to strike this balance, the channel also is adapting to the shifts in consumers’ beverage alcohol consumption.

“With a healthy lifestyle at the forefront of consumers’ minds, 30% of on-premise visitors find themselves abstaining from alcohol more than they did last year, contributing to the volume decline of BevAl categories,” Gallagher says.

Bank of America’s Insights also addresses the impact this trend could be having on the channel.

“[S]ome consumers may be abstaining entirely, spurred by the rise of social media trends like ‘Dry January’ and non-alcoholic alternatives (e.g., mocktails and soft drinks),” the Insights states. “In fact, Bank of America card spending at bars and alcohol stores decreased in January for the past two years, especially for Gen Z, who spent 15% less than in January 2023.”

Despite this challenge, consumers still are visiting on-premise outlets, just driven by a local flair and interest to try new things.

“As consumers demonstrate a desire to support local community, neighborhood bars have witnessed the largest number of openings versus other drinking outlets plus 2.9% vs. YA,” NielsenIQ’s Gallagher says. “Driven by a desire to try new things, 37% of on-premise visitors strongly agree/agree that they are excited when a brand they like bring out new category extensions, likely aiding RTDs in their registered volume growth vs. YA.”

Beyond RTDs and non-alcohol options, Gallagher also points to imported beers such as Mexican beers and Irish Stout as trends influencing the product mix in on-premise.

The channel also is seeing change in demographics that are making up the declines of others, according the Bank of America Insights.

“Additionally, younger generations are spending more of their ‘going out’ budgets at restaurants, while baby boomers are more likely to head to the bar,” the Insights says. “Within total restaurant spending, Gen Z and millennials have a higher share of bar spend, but this share has declined YoY. Conversely, while Baby Boomers’ bar spending makes up a lower share of the total, this share has increased in each of the past three years, although there has been some slowdown in the past year.”

As the on-premise channel continues to reclaim its performance pre-pandemic, purveyors are adapting to the consumer needs to support that return.