Business
Cheaper tequila and canned cocktails were the only bright spots for booze during a rough 2025
Various cans of alcoholic ready-to-drink beverages, including Captain Morgan’s rum and cola; Bacardi’s mango mojito; Archers’ schnapps and lemonade; Malibu’s pineapple and piña colada cocktails; and Gordon’s gin and tonic cocktails, are displayed for sale in a supermarket on Jan. 10, 2024.
John Keeble | Getty Images
The U.S. alcohol industry had another sobering year in 2025.
Spirits supplier revenue fell 2.2% to $36.4 billion for the year, according to new data by industry trade group the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, or Discus. The decline came as economic pressure and weaker consumer confidence weighed on discretionary spending.
“While total U.S. spirits sales edged down 2.2% in 2025, the spirits industry remains resilient,” said Chris Swonger, Discus CEO and president, in a statement.
Overall volumes for the year rose 1.9% to 318.1 million 9-liter cases, indicating growing demand. But the revenue decline suggests that while Americans are still drinking, they are also trading down — opting for lower-priced spirits and pulling back on premium purchases.
Nearly every major spirits category posted revenue declines. Vodka sales fell 3% to $7 billion. Sales of tequila and mezcal — the industry’s fastest-growing segment for several years now — slipped 4.1% to $6.4 billion. American whiskey and cordials revenue dipped 0.9% and 3.2%, respectively.
The exception was in convenience and value.
Last call for optimism
Sales of premixed cocktails, including spirits–based ready-to-drink beverages, surged over 16% compared to the year prior, reaching $3.8 billion. The category, known as RTD, has more than doubled its market share since 2021 as consumers gravitate toward a lower price point.
Within tequila, the shift has also been toward more affordable bottles, as macro headwinds make consumers rethink splurges on premium brands. Volume in the lowest tequila/mezcal price point the trade group tracks grew 6.5% in 2025, along with a 2.8% climb in the next tier higher. Volume for whiskey, vodka, rum and gin all fell at those price points.
As consumers move toward more-affordable spirits, companies like Diageo and Brown-Forman may be best positioned, as they have the most exposure to lower-priced tequila and the fast-growing RTD category. Diageo owns Casamigos tequila and has built out a sizable portfolio of spirit-based RTDs, while Brown-Forman controls key mixed-price tequila brands like El Jimador.
On the other hand, beer-heavy players like AB InBev and Molson Coors have minimal tequila exposure, although they have been expanding their RTD portfolios. Modelo and Corona owner Constellation Brands is in a unique position with both beer and tequila exposure, but a smaller RTD footprint.
Overall, the beverage alcohol market has softened after years of pandemic-fueled growth, and Discus’ new data reinforces that normalization is now turning into contraction.
“The companies that have started to report are posting weak numbers but no worse than expected,” said Trevor Stirling, Bernstein European and American beverages analyst. “The rate of decline is not getting worse, might be slowing and one can dream of a return to volume growth.”
Lingering trade tensions
Distillers have also been navigating headwinds abroad. American spirits exports fell 9% year over year in the second quarter of 2025, amid lingering trade tensions and the removal of U.S. products from many Canadian retail shelves following President Donald Trump‘s tariff hikes on the U.S. neighbor last year.
Industry leaders say tariff uncertainty is making it difficult to plan long term.
“The unpredictability surrounding global trade issues continues to weigh heavily on the U.S. spirits sector,” Swonger said. “Reinstating zero-for-zero tariffs on distilled spirits must be a priority to get our American distillers back on a path to growth and prosperity.”
Despite the revenue pullback, spirits actually maintained its market share lead of the total beverage alcohol market at 42.4%, compared to beer and wine at 41.8% and 15.7%, respectively.
Still, the message from 2025 is clear: Consumers are drinking less, but those who are still drinking are being more selective. In a tougher economic environment, cheaper tequila and canned cocktails are winning out over premium bottles behind the bar.
Business
‘Felt being used’: Employee shares being made to work more, promised promotion, but then…
New Delhi: An employee has claimed on social media that the office misled them into believing that they were in line for a promotion and made them put in more work when they had already given the position to another colleague. This story highlights how employees are being asked to prove themselves for a promotion and how openly the office offers that position to others.
The employee wrote on Reddit that six months ago the manager went on parental leave and the employee was put in the manager’s role. Their manager explicitly said that after coming back he would not resume his role because he was not enjoying the role. When the employee got a temporary promotion, the office informed that the employee would be offered the position permanently if the performance was good for the coming six months.
The employee put in extra hours, assumed greater responsibility and worked extremely hard to achieve the best position. At the end of the six months period, the employee kept asking the management for confirmation but the office did not give any confirmation.
The employee later called the manager who was on parental leave and asked him about the job confirmation. The manager explained that the post was promised to another colleague who was employed at the same time as the employee. It was informed that the role would be given to the other colleague.
The employee said that despite working hard and putting in extra hours, the work was not rewarded. The employee felt used as they worked hard and delivered way beyond their targets and said that there was a feeling of taking revenge.
Netizens Reaction
The post quickly gained traction with several users suggesting that the employee find another job since this office did not value their effort.
One user said, “Be exactly on time, leave exactly on time. Do what exactly you’re supposed to do and nothing more. Don’t volunteer for any other work, don’t work overtime and meanwhile find another job because this one does not value you. When you find something else, quit without notice.”
Another user said, “Managers do this all the time and I don’t think they understand how much it screws with motivation and trust once you realize what they’re doing.”
One user commented, “The second you return to work, immediately start looking for a new job and resign with no notice once you get an offer. Until then just keep your head down and act like everything is just Peaches & Herb.”
“Act your wage, don’t go above and beyond. Decline to train the new person since they don’t think you’re qualified for the role they can hardly pretend you’re qualified to train someone for it. And find a new job as soon as you are able to,” said one user.
One user said, “You got played, it sucks but it happens. It just shows you the company has no loyalty to you. Its up to you what you want to do with that information but might be time to look for a different job. Every place is like this though, its how the world works and its why everyone is so miserable.”
Business
Budget 2026: Deepening domestic manufacturing capabilities, expanding global reach – The Times of India
By Neetu VinayekIndia’s effort to strengthen its manufacturing foundation has steadily progressed over the past decade through a series of significant policy measures. A major milestone was the launch of the Make in India initiative in 2014, designed to encourage investment, spur innovation, and improve ease of doing business. Labour reforms also moved forward with the rollout of the four Labour Codes on 21 November 2025, merging 29 Central labour laws to streamline compliance and create a modern, resilient workforce framework. Complementing these domestic reforms, India has simultaneously intensified its global trade engagement through a renewed focus on Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Together, these reforms laid the foundation for the renewed manufacturing push outlined in Union Budget 2026.The Budget 2026 places manufacturing as a strategic and frontier sector for sustaining economic growth. The government framed the Budget as a continuation of structural reforms aimed at improving productivity, boosting competitiveness, and strengthening resilience against global disruptions.
In light of the rapid progress under the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme, the Budget proposes expanding its allocation to ₹40,000 crore, reaffirming India’s ambition to enhance domestic value addition and secure its place in global electronics supply chains. To compliment this, income tax holiday is being provided for five years to non-residents providing capital goods, equipment, or tooling to contract manufacturer operating in customs-bonded zones. This will help reduce costs which were being incurred on specialised equipment. Safe harbour provisions have been extended to non-residents for component warehousing in a bonded warehouse at a profit margin of 2 percent of the invoice value with a resulting tax incidence of 0.7 percent. This will harness efficiency of just-in-time logistics for the sector.A key highlight is the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) 2.0, to produce equipment and materials, design full-stack Indian IP, and fortify supply chains signalling the country’s ongoing commitment to building a robust domestic semiconductor ecosystem. There is tremendous potential for the aviation sector with rise in airports and regional connectivity under the UDAN schemes. To build sustainable ecosystem it is important to manufacture aircrafts and undertake MRO activities within the country. With this vision basic customs duty is exempted on parts and components imported for manufacture of aircraft. Further, basic customs duty on raw materials imported for manufacture of parts used in maintenance, repair or overhaul requirements in defence units is also exempted. The government has also proposed a seaplane VGF scheme to support operations and indigenise manufacturing of seaplanes.A Scheme for Rare Earth Permanent Magnets, launched in late 2025, is now complemented by proposed support for Rare Earth Corridors across mineral-rich states to promote mining, processing, research and manufacturing.The Budget also introduces Biopharma SHAKTI—a five-year, ₹10,000 crore programme to position India as a global hub for biopharma manufacturing by strengthening capabilities in biologics and biosimilars.To boost the chemicals sector, the government has launched a scheme supporting States in developing chemical parks to expand domestic production. The capital goods sector, often the silent driver of productivity, receives a comprehensive support package. This includes the establishment of Hi-Tech Tool Rooms by Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) as digital service hubs for precision components, a scheme for advanced construction and infrastructure equipment. ₹10,000 crore over five-years is also allocated to develop a competitive container manufacturing ecosystem. These interventions aim to reduce import dependence, shorten supply chains, and lower costs.Beyond advanced manufacturing, the Budget extends support to labour-intensive sectors such as textiles. It also introduces a dedicated thrust to develop India into a global centre for high-quality, affordable sports goods.A Scheme has been proposed to revive 200 legacy industrial clusters to improve their cost competitiveness and efficiency through infrastructure and technology upgradation.Impetus to the manufacturing sector is also provided through taxes. Basic customs duty exemptions have been extended across emerging sectors, including lithium-ion cell battery storage systems, critical mineral processing equipment, raw material for wind turbines and nuclear power plants. In essence, the Union Budget 2026 represents a holistic manufacturing-led growth strategy. It marries structural reforms with targeted fiscal incentives, embraces both advanced and traditional industries, and puts exports and global competitiveness at the centre of its vision. The new set of measures and focus on emerging sectors has the potential to deepen the country’s industrial capabilities and strengthen its position in global value chains. On ground execution and collaboration could mark a transformative chapter in India’s industrial journey.(Neetu Vinayek is Partner, Tax Infrastructure and Oil & Gas Leader, EY India . Manmay Chandawalla, Director-Tax, EY India also contributed to the article.)
Business
Jane Street Moves Supreme Court Over Legal Privilege Dispute Amid Tax Probe
Last Updated:
Jane Street operates trading subsidiaries in India and also manages offshore funds in Hong Kong and Singapore that are registered as FPIs

Jane Street Case
New York-based trading firm Jane Street has moved the Supreme Court of India amid a dispute with Indian tax authorities over the scope of legal privilege for certain internal communications, according to an Economic Times report on Friday.
The private quantitative trading firm, currently under scrutiny from both the Income Tax Department and capital markets regulator SEBI, has filed a review petition seeking judicial clarity on what constitutes “legal privilege.”
The case could have wider implications for Jane Street’s operations in India as well as for other corporate entities navigating the boundaries of privileged legal communications.
The Economic Times noted that the plea has reignited debate over whether confidential legal advice—including guidance from in-house legal teams acting in a legal advisory capacity—is protected under the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023, which replaced provisions of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
The filing is reportedly linked to enquiries by the Income Tax Department, which sought access to certain internal emails of Jane Street’s overseas operations as part of its investigation.
Jane Street operates trading subsidiaries in India and manages offshore funds in Hong Kong and Singapore, which are registered as foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) with SEBI.
February 13, 2026, 10:52 IST
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