Rossheim Matthew E, Tillett Kayla K, Vasilev Viktor, LoParco Cassidy R, Agwuncha Theresa, Sekhon Vishaldeep K, Mendoza Edna P, Townsend Olivia, Julian Maria T, Treffers Ryan D, Livingston Melvin D, Siegel Michael B, Jernigan David H
College of Public Health, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas, USA.
Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas, USA.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res (Hoboken). 2025 Jan;49(1):226-233. doi: 10.1111/acer.15491. Epub 2024 Nov 17.
Alcohol pricing policies can reduce population-level alcohol consumption. To inform these policies, it is essential to understand the price per standard alcoholic drink of the least expensive brands. This study focused on prices of ready-to-drink products because of their accessibility, popularity among young people, and market expansion in recent years.
In 2023, we systematically identified 39 retail stores selling alcohol online in Fort Worth, Texas. For each product, we recorded information regarding brand name, alcohol-by-volume (abv), liquid volume, and price (n = 10,818). Ready-to-drink products encompassed beer, malt liquor, cider, premixed cocktails, and flavored alcoholic beverages (FAB) including hard beverages (seltzer, soda, tea, lemonade), excluding wine and distilled spirits. We limited analyses to brands sold by at least three stores and deduplicated products within stores. Our analytic sample size was 3924.
The least expensive brands included the following: Four Loko, MXD Drinks Co., Steel Reserve (High Gravity Lager and Alloy Series), Hurricane High Gravity, Natural Ice, Natty Daddy, Clubtails, Sauza Agave Cocktails, Truly Extra, and Icehouse. The average abv among all products was 5.9%. Among the 20 least expensive brands, the average abv was 9.0%, and 70% were available in single-serve containers.
The least expensive brands of ready-to-drink alcohol products were often high abv, single-serve containers of FAB, malt liquor, or beer. Retail price assessments can strengthen the case for policy solutions, such as targeted taxes and re-classification of products, to reduce the risks posed by low-priced alcohol. The current study identifies some brands these retail assessments should include.
酒精定价政策可降低总体酒精消费量。为制定这些政策提供依据，了解最便宜品牌每标准酒精饮料的价格至关重要。由于即饮产品易于获取、在年轻人中很受欢迎且近年来市场不断扩大，本研究聚焦于即饮产品的价格。
2023年，我们系统地识别了德克萨斯州沃思堡市39家在线销售酒精的零售店。对于每种产品，我们记录了品牌名称、酒精度（abv）、液体体积和价格（n = 10818）。即饮产品包括啤酒、麦芽酒、苹果酒、预调鸡尾酒和调味酒精饮料（FAB），包括烈性饮料（苏打水、汽水、茶、柠檬水），不包括葡萄酒和蒸馏酒。我们将分析限于至少由三家商店销售的品牌，并对商店内的重复产品进行了去重。我们的分析样本量为3924。
最便宜的品牌包括：Four Loko、MXD Drinks Co.、Steel Reserve（高酒精度淡啤酒和合金系列）、Hurricane High Gravity、Natural Ice、Natty Daddy、Clubtails、Sauza龙舌兰鸡尾酒、Truly Extra和Icehouse。所有产品的平均酒精度为5.9%。在最便宜的20个品牌中，平均酒精度为9.0%，70%有单份包装。
最便宜的即饮酒精产品品牌通常是高酒精度的单份包装FAB、麦芽酒或啤酒。零售价格评估可为政策解决方案（如针对性税收和产品重新分类）提供有力支持，以降低低价酒精带来的风险。本研究确定了这些零售评估应涵盖的一些品牌。
