Alternative Beers and Burgers Will Dominate Labor Day Weekend

Ah, Labor Day, how America loves you. And yet...we loathe you at the same time. Labor Day weekend is glorious because it means three days off of work (for most people), but it's also an awful holiday because it marks the unofficial end to summer.

Most people are of the mindset that if we have to say farewell to summer, it might as well be done with a beer in one hand a burger in the other, and that's just what a massive number of Americans plan to do. However, what you reach to grab out of the cooler might not be a traditional beer. And that burger in your hand? Yeah, there's a chance that it'll be made with an alternative to meat.

In May of this year, Nielsen released a study predicting that it would be the summer of 'plant-based meat alternatives and ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages' and they were spot on (White Claw, anyone?) and it looks like the trend will usher out summertime on Labor Day Weekend.

Food and Wine Magazine reports that the sales of plant-based meat alternatives have jumped by 13.5 percent and the sales of ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages has skyrocketed. Literally. Hard seltzer sales are up a staggering 193 percent and hard kombucha sales are up over 247 percent. 247 percent. Can you believe that?

So...if you want to look hip when you head off to that Labor Day party, maybe bring some plant based patties and a six-pack of hard kombucha.

[via Food and Wine/Nielsen]