Entrepreneur Monday's - It's July 4th Weekend. Let's Spend $7 Billion On Burgers And Bee

Every Independence Day weekend, Americans prepare a feast to commemorate our country, our freedom, the invention of light beer, and the gift of long summer days. But mostly, it's a feast. Americans will spend an estimated $7.1 billion on food during the holiday weekend, retailers expect.

It's "one of the biggest food holidays of the year," a WalMart spokesperson told BuzzFeed News.

The most consumed food: burgers, according to NPD. Last year, Americans bought $804 million worth of beef leading up to the holiday and $371 million worth of chicken, Nielsendata shows.

After burgers, steak, and chicken, hot dogs are the fourth most popular food on people's grills, NPD said.

for Wal Mart, Texas is the number-one burger and hot dog market.

Grilling seafood is less popular than all those meats, but we still bought $85.1 million worth of shrimp and $48.4 million of salmon, according to Nielsen.

Americans spent $43 million on barbecue sauce last Independence Day, topping ketchup's $37 million and mustard's $25 million.

And while rosé is still a tiny part of the wine business, it's also the fastest growing. Sales grew 53% in the 52 weeks ending in mid-April.

Another new alternative to beer: hard seltzer, which Nielsen said rakes in $60 million annually in sales and is growing.

- Buzzfeed