Bev-alc remained in the red in the latest week (data ending October 12) with dollar sales down 3.8% year-over-year (YoY) and 1% week-over-week (WoW) in Circana-tracked off-premise channels, according to the latest weekly report from the market research firm’s EVP of BevAl, Scott Scanlon.
Total bev-alc volume, measured in case sales, declined 5.4% in the latest week, similar to declines recorded in the previous week (dollar sales -4.6%, volume -5.9%).
Beer trends remained consistent in the latest week compared to the previous week, with dollar sales declining 5.1% and volume down 6.3% (previous week dollar sales -5.1%, volume -6.4%). Meanwhile, wine recorded a WoW improvement in performance, nearly cutting its declines in half (dollar sales -4.3%, volume -3.6%) compared to the prior week (dollar sales -8%, volume -9.2%).
Spirits maintained consistent growth, with dollar sales up 1.6% and volume up 9% (previous week dollar sales +1.2%, volume +9.1%).
Scanlon noted that “a bounce” was anticipated for bev-alc “after last week’s relatively dismal results,” and while that occurred for wine, “beer did not follow suit.”
“Hopefully beer can follow wine’s bounce in advance of Halloween,” Scanlon wrote, noting that beer “is more likely to benefit” from ready-to-drink cocktail (RTD) growth – a favored segment during Halloween.
Beer-, wine- and spirits-based RTDs recorded slightly softer trends WoW, with dollar sales increasing 2.2% YoY and volume falling 2.7% (previous week dollar sales +2.8%, volume -2%).
Within beer, hard cider was the only segment (excluding non-alcoholic [NA]) to record YoY growth in the latest week (dollar sales +1.9%, volume +2.7%), with domestic super premium landing flat. NA beer dollar sales increased 19.8%, while volume grew 22.4%.
All other segments were in decline, led by domestic premium (dollar sales -7.6%, volume -8.5%).
Among the top 20 beer brand families, Constellation Brands’ Pacifico was the only one to record notable dollar sales (+14.1%) and volume (+11.1%) growth, while Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) Michelob Ultra (dollar sales +0.8%, volume +0.4%) and Mark Anthony Brands’ White Claw Hard Seltzer (dollar sales +0.9%, volume +0.3%) were about flat.
All other top 20 brand families recorded YoY declines in the latest week, with double-digit losses by A-B’s Bud Light (dollar sales -10.1%, volume -10.9%); Boston Beer Company’s Twisted Tea (dollar sales -10%, volume -11.9%); Heineken (dollar sales -16.1%, volume -16.9%); Boston Beer’s Truly Hard Seltzer (dollar sales -14.4%, volume -15.6%); and Heineken’s Dos Equis (dollar sales -10.5%, volume -10.7%).
Four of those five brands recorded accelerated YoY losses compared to the week prior, with the exception of Truly (previous week dollar sales -17.6% YoY, volume -18.8%).