Restaurant spending per capitaCraft distilleries in the US
US restaurant spending per capita and the number of craft distilleries grew together at a 0.97 correlation between 2005 and 2022, which suggests either that restaurants are the primary retail channel for artisanal spirits, or that the kind of person who supports a local distillery also eats out a great deal, or possibly that America's entire relationship with food and drink is one unified cultural project that expresses itself simultaneously through small-batch whiskey and the willingness to pay fourteen dollars for a salad. The craft distillery count rose from a few hundred to over 2,000 in this period. The salads got more expensive throughout.
US craft distilleries grew from around 200 in 2005 to over 2,000 by 2022, driven by regulatory reforms including the Craft Beverage Modernization Act, rising consumer demand for premium and locally produced spirits, and the broader food artisanship movement. Restaurant spending per capita grew from roughly $1,800 annually in 2005 to over $2,800 by 2022, reflecting rising incomes, urbanization, and the growth of dining as a lifestyle and social activity among Millennials. Both trends are expressions of the same premium consumer culture: the same demographic that eats at farm-to-table restaurants also buys small-batch gin, creating a natural if statistically irrelevant correlation.
Premium consumer culture moves in waves across adjacent industries because it is driven by the same people with the same values and the same disposable income. The correlation is real; the cause is a generation that grew up watching food television.
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Want to learn more about why correlations like “Restaurant spending per capita” vs “Craft distilleries in the US” don't prove causation? Read our guide to statistical thinking.
