CHICAGO - Diverse, highly educated, open to new experiences and eager to explore, the Millennial demographic group is already having a significant impact on the adult beverage industry. All members of the largest generation since the baby boomers will be of legal age to consume alcohol by 2018, and these consumers are already making their mark on the adult beverage industry, driving trends such as craft beer, boutique spirits and sweeter flavor profiles in wine.

Technomic??s "Special TAB (Trends in Adult Beverage) Report: Millennial Consumer Insights" finds that Millennials are frequent consumers of adult beverages. Eight in 10 consumed an alcohol beverage in a bar, restaurant or other on-premise venue in the past week, and nine in 10 had consumed at home.

This population group is open to new experiences, and its members are more likely to try a new drink than those of any other age group in both on-premise and off-premise locations. Millennials consume domestic light beer, hard ciders, cocktails, red blend wines and Moscato wines more often than older consumers.

Younger Millennials are more price-conscious than Older Millennials. Price and variety are considered much more or somewhat more important for away-from-home adult beverage purchases than for at-home purchases by half of Millennials surveyed.

"Millennials are absolutely driving some of the biggest trends in adult beverage, and will continue to do so for the next few years," said David Henkes, vice president at Technomic and leader of its adult beverage practice, in a press release. "We do see, however, that this is not a homogenous group - due to its sheer size and inherent diversity, beverage professionals from suppliers and marketers to retailers and restaurateurs must be very strategic in engaging Millennials in terms of adult beverage occasions and consumption."