The production of distilled beverages involves a large supporting cast of industries and occupations. It also consumes energy and takes an environmental toll. This analysis looks at the value added and imports, by industry, needed to produce distilled liquor. I also look at which occupations and how much compensation goes into distilled beverage production. Finally, I examine the environmental toll of producing distilled beverages and which sources of energy are relied upon for production.
Turning first to the value added and imports, by industry, needed in the production of distilled beverages, Figure 1, below, shows the top five industries whose value added in the distilled beverage supply chain contributes to production. The top industry by value added is distilleries, followed by other basic organic chemical manufacturing. Rounding out the top 5 is petrochemical manufacturing.
| Figure 1. Top 5 Industries by Value Added Needed to Produce Distilled Liquor | |
| Industry Description | Value Added ($million) |
| Distilleries | 8010.032331 |
| Other basic organic chemical manufacturing | 1281.335399 |
| Other nondurable goods merchant wholesalers | 1057.69004 |
| Oil and gas extraction | 736.5235007 |
| Petrochemical manufacturing | 495.7415599 |
Figure 2, below, looks at what the top 5 industries are in terms of imports for the production of distilled beverages. The top industry is oil and gas extraction. Rounding out the top 5 is glass and plastic bottle manufacturing.
| Figure 2. Top 5 Industries by Imports Needed to Produce Distilled Liquor | |
| Industry Description | Imports ($million) |
| Oil and gas extraction | 1379.825159 |
| Distilleries | 668.8318513 |
| Other basic organic chemical manufacturing | 585.9886886 |
| Glass and glass product manufacturing | 259.7415933 |
| Plastics bottle manufacturing | 259.6863015 |
Figure 3, below, shows the total amount of value added across all industries that goes into the output of distilled beverages. The total amount of value added is $19.3 billion dollars. The total amount of imports that go into distilled beverage output is $4.4 billion.
| Figure 3. Industry Value Added Needed to Produce Distilled Liquor | ||
| Value Added ($ million) | Imports ($million) | |
| Total Distilled Liquor Output Requirements | 19,340.99 | 4,391.32 |
Next, I turn to the topic of labor. I examine which occupations contribute to the production of distilled liquor and show how much each occupation earns in compensation. Figure 4, below, shows that all occupations accounted for $6 billion in compensation. Production occupations accounted for 18.6% of total compensation and is followed by management occupations, transportation and material moving occupations, and sales and related occupations.
| Figure 4. Compensation by Occupation to Produce Distilled Liquor | |
| Occupation | Compensation ($million) |
| All Occupations | 6039.9 |
| Management Occupations | 914.5 |
| Business and Financial Operations Occupations | 447.4 |
| Computer and Mathematical Occupations | 250.2 |
| Architecture and Engineering Occupations | 256.5 |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations | 134.8 |
| Community and Social Service Occupations | 3.1 |
| Legal Occupations | 57.7 |
| Education, Training, and Library Occupations | 6.2 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations | 81.9 |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | 40 |
| Healthcare Support Occupations | 4.3 |
| Protective Service Occupations | 22.7 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations | 117.2 |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations | 56.9 |
| Personal Care and Service Occupations | 13.6 |
| Sales and Related Occupations | 572.3 |
| Office and Administrative Support Occupations | 633 |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations | 94.7 |
| Construction and Extraction Occupations | 127 |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations | 377.7 |
| Production Occupations | 1122.6 |
| Transportation and Material Moving Occupations | 695.5 |
The production of distilled liquor uses energy and takes a toll on the environment. Looking first at energy consumption by end use, Figure 5, below, shows that indirect uses of boiler fuel is the top ranking end use category of energy consumption. Boiler fuel usage is followed by process heating and machine drive. The manufacturing of distilled liquor takes up relatively little of conventional electricity generation.
| Figure 5. Manufacturing Energy Consumption to Produce Distilled Liquor by End Use ($million) | |
| End use | Total |
| Indirect Uses-Boiler Fuel | 139.7412 |
| Facility Lighting | 12.62578 |
| Facility HVAC | 28.13896 |
| Conventional Electricity Generation | 0.079988 |
| Other Facility Support | 4.744567 |
| Other Nonprocess Use | 0.757635 |
| Electro-Chemical Processes | 20.1156 |
| Machine Drive | 124.2276 |
| Onsite Transportation | 3.323337 |
| Other Process Use | 11.12213 |
| Process Cooling and Refrigeration | 22.1742 |
| Process Heating | 128.8045 |
| End Use Not Reported | 12.47616 |
| TOTAL | 508.3316 |
The toll on the environment can be seen in Figure 6, below. Grain farming has the greatest environmental impact at .12% of total U.S. Impact. It accounts for over one-third of the total impact for producing distilled liquor. The total environmental impact, across all industries, of distilling liquor is 0.33% of the total US impact.
| Figure 6. Top Five Industries with the Greatest Environmental Impact in Producing Distilled Liquor | ||
| Industry Description | Percent of Total US Impact | Percent of Total for Producing Distilled Liquor |
| Grain farming | 0.12% | 38.22% |
| Oil and gas extraction | 0.04% | 10.95% |
| Other basic organic chemical manufacturing | 0.03% | 10.28% |
| Electric power generation, transmission, and distribution | 0.02% | 6.36% |
| Distilleries | 0.02% | 6.07% |
This descriptive analysis shows that the production of distilled liquor engages a web of industries and occupations that are not normally visible to the consumer of distilled beverages. Its production also consumes energy and leaves an environmental footprint. This post sheds light on who the supporting cast is in distilling beverages.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/services-resources/software/manufacturing-cost-guide