Drizly: RTDs Overtake Hard Seltzers on Platform for First Time
Ready-to-drink canned cocktails’ (RTDs’) share of Drizly sales passed hard seltzer’s share for the first time over the weekend (May 27-30), as consumers celebrated Memorial Day.
RTDs claimed a 4.8% share of sales on the e-commerce alcohol marketplace, while hard seltzer recorded a 4.4% share. It’s a large uptick compared to RTDs’ 2% share of annual Drizly sales in 2021.
High Noon, the vodka-based RTD from E&J Gallo, was the No. 3 spirits brand on Drizly over the weekend, moving up four spots from No. 7 during the 2021 Memorial Day weekend. Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B’s) Cutwater Spirits also moved up the rankings, from No. 31 in 2021 to No. 13.
Tequila sales continued to grow on Drizly, claiming three of the top five spirits SKUs – No. 2 Casamigos Blanco, No. 4 Clase Azul Reposado Tequila and No. 5 Espolòn Blanco – compared to just one of the top five in 2021 (No. 2 Casamigos Blanco). Tequila claimed a 21% share of all liquor sales on the platform, only one point below vodka (22%).
As previously reported, the majority of respondents in Drizly’s 2021 Retail Report (80%) said they plan to stock more tequila in 2022, compared to 40% stocking more vodka. The interest carries over to RTDs, as 43% of respondents in Drizly’s 2022 Consumer Report said they were most interested in trying tequila-based RTDs this year.
BeerBoard: On-Premise Records Uptick During Champions League Match
While Real Madrid won the Champions League trophy over the weekend, beer deserves an honorary mention, as the category’s on-premise sales increased +8.2% during Saturday’s match compared to the previous year, market research firm BeerBoard reported.
Real Madrid C.F. and Liverpool F.C faced off for the UEFA Champions League match on May 28, watched by more than 350 million people worldwide, according to Beerboard.
On-premise beer sales were down significantly (-23.2%) compared to 2019. However, BeerBoard said it should be noted that the 2019 match was held on June 1, the Saturday after Memorial Day weekend, so sales did not have to compete with the holiday.
Beerboard did not compare to 2020, when a majority of on-premise locations were shut down or heavily restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several of the country’s “soccer-centric cities” recorded volume increases compared to last year’s match, including Los Angeles (+39.1%), New York (+9.9%) and Dallas (+6.9%). Chicago, which BeerBoard said is “a large soccer market in the U.S.,” was “surprisingly flat.”
The No. 1 beer brand poured in the U.S. on Saturday was A-B’s Michelob Ultra, moving up one spot on the top 10 list to overtake A-B’s Bud Light. Molson Coors’ Miller Lite claimed the No. 3 spot, followed by Constellation Brands’ Modelo Especial; Heineken’s Dos Equis Especial; Molson Coors’ Coors Light and Blue Moon Belgian White; A-B’s Stella Artois; Yuengling; and A-B’s Budweiser.
Brands within the top 10 that moved up the list over the past few years include No. 4 Modelo (up from No. 7 in 2019), No. 5 Dos Equis (up from No. 7 in 2021) and No. 9 Yuengling (up from No. 10 in 2021).
Heineken, the global beer sponsor for the Champions League, did not make the top 10.
BI: 70% of Beer Drinkers to Adjust Memorial Day Plans Due to Inflation
Although data for Memorial Day weekend is still coming in, Danelle Kosmal, VP of research at the Beer Institute (BI), gave some insight in a blog post Friday on what we can expect to see from the holiday and the summer selling season.
Memorial Day is the unofficial start of beer’s busiest season, as 40% of beer’s annual volume in the U.S. is sold between Memorial Day and Labor Day, according to the BI. As Kosmal noted, while the Super Bowl is often thought of as “the most significant beer holiday,” Memorial Day and the Fourth of July often take the top spot for beer consumption.
“However, as we look to the official kick-off to summer, inflation remains top of mind for so many American consumers who have cited the cost of living as their top concern, even above other concerns like health care, crime, jobs and unemployment,” Kosmal wrote. “Memorial Day weekend is not exempt from consumer concerns about inflation.”
The Harris Poll surveyed 1,097 beer drinkers from May 19-23 on behalf of the BI. The majority of respondents (70%) said they plan to adjust their plans for Memorial Day weekend due to inflation.
Four in 10 respondents said they will stay home instead of traveling, as they would usually do for the holiday. For those hosting events over the weekend, more than a quarter (28%) said they will purchase less alcohol than they usually do, while slightly less (24%) plan to buy less food.
Those numbers increased for younger legal-drinking-age (LDA) consumers, with 80% of respondents aged 21-24 stating they plan to adjust their Memorial Day plans, while 36% said they plan to purchase less alcohol than usual.
“Does this mean all doom and gloom for beer this summer? Absolutely not,” Kosmal wrote.
In the same survey, 55% of respondents said their favorite beer occasion is a summer holiday gathering, such as Memorial Day. Nearly half of respondents (49%) said they enjoy a beer the most while on an outdoor patio at a bar and restaurant, while 45% said they do at a beach or by the pool, and about 33% said at a music concert, festival or sporting event.
“I am approaching this summer with hopeful optimism based on the resiliency and ingenuity I see every day in the beer industry,” Kosmal wrote. “The same resiliency and ingenuity brewers showed as they flipped their business models nearly upside down in 2020 despite massive on-premises shutdowns and supply chain issues while still supporting their communities through community fundraisers, hand sanitizer production and more.”