Beer category dollar sales at off-premise retailers increased +2% year-over-year for the week ending August 21, outpacing total beverage alcohol dollar sales growth (+1%), according to market research firm IRI.
“Beer and spirits continued to outperform, a trend likely to continue over the next couple of weeks as the holiday should accelerate sales, especially within the beer category,” wrote Scott Scanlon, EVP of IRI’s bev-alc vertical. “The growth brands will likely continue to dominate the upcoming holiday with premium beer continuing to outperform, despite recessionary concerns leading consumers to trade down in many CPG categories.”
Constellation Brands’ Modelo and Corona were stand-out brand families during the week. With +20.8% dollar sales growth, Modelo posted another week of “unstoppable performance,” Scanlon wrote. The Mexican import brand family recorded $85.3 million in off-premise sales in IRI-tracked channels.
The Corona brand family (+8.4%) saw “strong performance” that was “only overshadowed due to Modelo[’s] surge.” Constellation-owned Pacifico recorded +52% growth, albeit off a much smaller base than its larger sibling brands ($6 million in sales in IRI-tracked channels during the week ending August 21).
Imports (+10%) and non-alcoholic beer (+13%) recorded the highest growth of beer category segments.
Other beer category brand families with strong year-over-year growth for the week included:
- Boston Beer’s Twisted Tea brand family, +35.1%, to $19.6 million;
- New Belgium Brewing’s portfolio, +28.2%, to $8.4 million;
- Molson Coors’ Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, +118.4%, to $4.9 million.
Hard seltzer brands recorded the category’s steepest declines for the week:
- Boston Beer’s Truly Hard Seltzer brand family, -23.5%, to $20.9 million;
- Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Bud Light Seltzer brand family, -27.9%, to $5.8 million;
- Molson Coors’ Vizzy Hard Seltzer brand family, -25%, to $2.59 million.
Hard seltzer segment leader Mark Anthony Brands’ White Claw eked out a small amount of growth (+1.4%, to $40.9 million) due to the brand facing easier comps because its sales began to slow earlier than those its competitors did.
Beer category hard seltzer overall declined -12.3%, to $97.2 million, while dollar sales of spirits-based seltzer increased +84%, to $10.7 million.