Any positive vibes recorded in recent weekly data reports may have been a mirage.
After some “less pessimistic data” reports, off-premise beverage-alcohol sales have returned to the red, market insights firm Circana shared in its latest weekly report.
Total bev-alc dollars declined 2% year-over-year (YoY) and 0.2% week-over-week (WoW) during the week ending August 3.
“After a couple of less pessimistic data weeks the data fell back a bit this week, although held up again by the hot RTD [ready-to-drink] cocktails,” Circana EVP of bev-alc Scott Scanlon wrote. “Beer continues to be driven by American super premium increasing 4% this week versus previous year.
“Spirits remains BevAl’s outperformer with RTD growth, as double-digit and even mid-triple-digit brand growth expands beyond a few brands to several within the category,” he continued. “The wine category continues to struggle at roughly similar rate as previous recent weeks with a few familiar brands bucking the trend and delivering growth.”
Beer category dollars reached $943.1 million during the week, -2.9% YoY. Volume declined 4.5%. Wine dollar sales declined 5.2%, to $238.2 million; the category’s volume declined 6.5%. Overall spirits dollars increased 4.6%, to $252.3 million; volume increased 10.2%. RTDs, which include products across all three mega categories, increased dollars 2.9%, to $239.8 million, but volume declined 1.9%.
“Upcoming, the choppiness is likely to continue for the next several weeks as we draw down the summer season,” Scanlon wrote. “Unfortunately, as feared, the data over the previous two weeks did not signal an ‘all-clear’ sign, and we are seeing some retracement.
“Hopefully we see a return to more optimistic results in advance of Labor Day holiday beyond the hot RTD brands and Michelob within the beer category,” he continued.
Unlike last week, only two of the top 10 beer category brand families posted growth: No. 3 Michelob Ultra (dollars +4.2%, volume +4.3%) and No. 8 Busch (dollars +0.1%, volume -0.7%). Both are owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B).
Five of the six category families with double-digit gains last week were able to continue the trend this week; however, only one increased momentum:
- No. 15 Constellation’s Pacifico, dollars +18.8%, volume +15.6% (accelerating from +15.3% and +12.2%, respectively, last week);
- No. 29 Geloso’s ClubTails, dollars +11.5%, volume +8.2% (decelerating from +17.3% and +16.8%);
- No. 33 Constellation Brands’ Victoria dollars +43.1%, volume +42.3% (decelerating from +59.9% and +57%);
- No. 44 Athletic, dollars +14.6%, volume +16.3% (decelerating from +19.7 and +20.3%);
- And No. 48 A-B’s Goose Island, dollars +13.3%, volume +6.6% (decelerating from +14.7% and +6.2%).
No. 49 A-B’s Kona reversed last week’s double-digit gains (dollars +17.3%, volume +28.6%) to a 0.6% decline in dollars (volume +2.7%).
On the spirits-based RTD front, top brand Gallo’s High Noon Sun Sips’ volume decline eased slightly to down 7.3% (from -8% last week). The brand’s dollar sales increased 1.6%, to $13.2 million, slightly behind No. 1 spirits brand Tito’s Vodka ($13.6 million).
Sazerac-owned BuzzBallz (No. 3 spirits brand overall, No. 2 RTD brand) grew its momentum to dollars +68.3% and volume +75%, accelerating from last week’s +64.1% and +71.7%, respectively.
Much of the RTD segment’s growth came from premium cocktails, which increased sales +40% YoY. Spirit-based seltzers declined 5%, Scanlon noted.
Other standout RTD brands included:
- BeatBox, dollars +20.2%, volume +17.5%;
- A-B’s Cutwater Spirits, dollars +61.4%, volume +57.9%;
- A-B’s Nütrl Vodka Seltzer, dollars +15%,volume +12.6%;
- Stateside Vodka’s Surfside, dollars +484.5%, volume +505.1%;
- Boston Beer’s Sun Cruiser, dollars +473.5%, volume +506%;
- Carbliss, dollars +50.5%, volume +53.9%;
- The Long Drink dollars +30.9%, volume +29.4%;
- And MLP Brands’ Big Sipz, dollars +21.1%, volume +24.1%.