CHICAGO - Citing a sales lift from restaurants and bars, Technomic announced earlier this week a revised forecast for sales of beverage alcohol.

The research firm now predicts beverage alcohol sold in bars, restaurants, and other on-premise establishments to increase 1.1 percent this year, up from its previous 2.5 percent sales decline that it forecasted at the end of 2009.

"Consumers are returning to restaurants, and that??s good news for the sales of alcohol and related products," said David Henkes, Vice President at Technomic. "Our expectations for segments like casual dining, fine dining and bars are much higher than they were six months ago."

Technomic predicted beer and spirits to benefit the most, with wine sales lagging due to consumers trading down on alcohol consumption. Its predictions for the alcohol sub-categories in 2010 are as follows:

• Beer: 1.2 percent increase
• Wine: 0.6 percent decrease
• Spirits: 1.6 percent increase
• Overall on-premise increase: 1.1 percent

Despite the revised assessment, Henkes cautioned that all does not look promising when it comes to consumer consumption behavior.

"While it??s good news that we??re starting to see growth after nearly two years of declines, the industry is not out of dangerous territory yet, and the recovery isn??t as robust as it has been in previous recessions," Henkes said.