SevenFifty and SevenFifty Daily Release the Beverage Alcohol Industry's First Career and Salary Survey Report Spanning All Three Tiers

NEW YORK - Oct. 23, 2018 - PRLog -- SevenFifty Technologies, Inc., the online communications platform and wholesale marketplace for the beverage alcohol industry, and SevenFifty Daily, the premier digital magazine about the business and culture of the drinks trade, today released the results of their 2018 Career and Salary Survey—the first-of-its-kind to span all three tiers of the industry. The goal of this survey, conducted in partnership with Wine Opinions, the leading U.S. wine market research company, was to better understand the industry's challenges, as well as to identify potential opportunities for growth and change.

The report, based on a survey of more than 3,200 trade professionals, provides direct insights into the beverage alcohol industry's make-up, including age, gender, ethnicity, education, location, and industry tier. Here are a few highlights from the report:

• Across all tiers, men earn 26% more ($79K vs. $66K) than women. Not only is the gender pay gap widespread across the three-tier system, regardless of seniority and position level, but it's also even wider than the national average of 20%.
• Women and people of color are underrepresented in higher-paying leadership roles and overrepresented in lower-paying support roles. In the U.S. workforce, men—specifically, white men—hold the majority of senior leadership and executive-level positions. This holds true in the beverage alcohol space, where men represent 85% of the total survey pool and hold a significant proportion of executive-level roles (e.g., owner, CEO, senior manager).
• Women report less overall career and pay satisfaction than their male counterparts. Survey analysis shows that more women than men are less satisfied (11% vs. 7% for men) with their current career trajectories due to disparities in pay and fewer opportunities for career advancement.

These findings show the lack of diversity and inclusion of women and people of color across the industry, particularly in leadership roles. "This study provides data to back up what we've known anecdotally—that there's much work to be done around achieving gender pay parity and racial equality in the industry," says Erica Duecy, Editor in Chief of SevenFifty Daily. "We hope this data set will spark discussions and help advance company policies throughout the drinks business."

The report not only showcases data and insights into the beverage alcohol industry as a whole, but it also offers a comprehensive analysis of the compensation, career outlook, and work-related stress levels of industry professionals. Findings include:

• Sales and marketing professionals, winemakers, brewers, and distillers within the producer tier, earn around $100K per year, more than the other surveyed groups, reflecting the growing demand for senior sales and marketing leaders within the tier. Average annual compensation ranges from $60.5K for off-premise workers to nearly $100K for producers. The majority of surveyed producers surveyed receive bonuses, and 20–25% receive other forms of extra compensation, including stock and 401(k) benefits on top of their base salaries.
• Off-premise retailers who work in wine, beer, and liquor stores are less optimistic about their career prospects than workers in the on-premise, producer, and importer/distributor sectors. A disproportionately higher number of off-premise workers either own or manage small to medium-sized family-owned establishments which tend to offer fewer growth opportunities than do larger companies with bigger staff and budgets.
• Importers/producers and those who work in bars and restaurants, experience the highest levels of work-related stress, likely due to long hours, irregular pay, and having less control over their work schedules. Women, workers in their 30s, and those who've been in the beverage alcohol industry for 10-20 years also report higher stress levels than do producers and off-premise respondents.

"With its comprehensive scope, the survey establishes baselines of numerous career issues affecting the livelihoods of those in the beverage alcohol industry," said John Gillespie, Founder and CEO of Wine Opinions. "It'll provide valuable data for comparisons and trend analysis in years to come."

Download the full 2018 Career and Salary Survey Report.

SevenFifty powers a connected beverage alcohol supply chain, bringing innovative technology to the massive but antiquated wholesale alcohol sales and distribution industry. A first-of-its-kind communication platform and marketplace, SevenFifty helps producers, importers, distributors, and retail buyers connect with each other and do business in the modern world. Founded by industry professionals in 2012, SevenFifty now operates in 42 U.S. markets.

SevenFifty Daily is an online magazine owned and published by SevenFifty that focuses on the business and culture of the beverage alcohol industry. The publication analyzes the issues people are talking about, uncovers new insights and innovations, and explores the people, places, and traditions beyond the bottle. Covering the three tiers of the alcohol industry, SevenFifty Daily connects a global community of drinks professionals, creating a forum for conversation and a platform for showcasing the people and ideas moving the industry forward.

Wine Opinions is the leading provider of U.S. wine market research to wineries, wine-marketing companies, and wine trade associations around the globe, offering unparalleled trade and wine-consumer insights and wine-market intelligence. Capabilities and services include quantitative surveys of U.S. wine consumers and the wine trade; qualitative research, including online and in-person focus groups and moderated wine tastings; baseline and tracking studies; and studies of consumer and trade trends and market data.