FORM Market Monitor Reveals Increase in Shelf Share of Functional Beverages and More Empty Cooler Space Since April

FORM, the leading provider of AI-enabled field execution software, today unveiled its latest FORM Market Monitor which tracks essential industry benchmarks in the beer, whiskey, tequila, and non-alcoholic markets. The data in today's report reveals functional beverage brands saw an increase in shelf share compared to April, and empty facings in coolers increased for all non-alcoholic beverages. Median pricing, brand preference, and country of origin remained little changed.

The FORM Market Monitor gives manufacturers, distributors, and retailers insights into the rapidly changing beverage market, with aggregate data including shelf share, empty facings, and median pricings. FORM has tracked data from over 50 large format retailers month-to-month to identify trends, and collecting and analyzing the data is simple using its AI-powered image recognition app, GoSpotCheck, to capture entire coolers, shelves, or displays for real-time analysis.

"Capturing these metrics consistently month-to-month helps our customers and the industry spot trends and act on them," said Kevin Corcoran, Chief Sales Officer, FORM. "For instance, during the summer, we know single-serve, chilled beverages will sell more quickly, and the data reveals this with empty facings of these drinks significantly higher. Retailers and beverage suppliers can take note of this trend and prioritize restocking these easy-access coolers."

Some month-to-month highlights from the May 2025 data:

• Key functional beverage brands, such as prebiotic soda from Olipop and kombucha from Health-Ade, saw significant increases of single-serve shelf share, increasing from 3.3% to 5.6% and 1.7% to 2.6% respectively
• Empty facings of all non-alcoholic drinks rose from 4.35% to 6.05%
• Median canned beer prices was slightly higher across six and twelve packs, and single serve beers
• Little change in shelf share of domestic vs. imported beer

"While still in its early stages, our vision for the FORM Market Monitor is to build a go-to resource of performance insights that field teams can count on – especially amidst tariffs and the current economic climate," said Corcoran.

Complete data can be found here. Additional highlights:

Beer 

• Empty Facings: 6.08%
• Share of Shelf by Supplier: Three companies compose >60% share
• Share of Shelf by Brand Family: No brand capturing more than 9.1%
• Share of Country: 73% domestic, 27% imports
• Share and Price by Pack Type: 69% cans with a 12-pack median price of $17.83
• Share and Price of Aluminum Bottles: 2% with a 12-pack median price of $19.00

Whiskey 

• Empty Facings: 4.08%
• Share of Shelf by Supplier: 43% share composed of the three largest
• Share of Shelf by Brand: No brand capturing more than 6.3%
• Median and Average Price by Shelf Index:
• Top Shelf – Median price: $54.99
• Shelf One – Median price: $26.99

Tequila 

• Share of Shelf by Supplier: 46% share by the three largest
• Share of Shelf by Brand: 23.6% by the top three
• Median and Average Price by Shelf Index:
• Top Shelf – Median price: $39.99
• Shelf One – Median price: $27.99

Non-Alcoholic 

• Empty Facings: 6.05%
• Share of Shelf by Supplier: 43.3% share by the two largest
• Share of Shelf by Brand Family: 21.6% share by the two largest
• Share by Classification:
• 54% carbonated soft drinks
• 13.9% energy drinks
• 10.4% water

No customer data was or will be used to create the FORM Market Monitor. The insights contained within this report are intended for illustration purposes only. Data is based on a random sample from images taken at 50 large-format stores across four states in May 2025. Previous months' data may have been adjusted to reflect updated reporting procedures. These adjustments may result in differences compared to previously published data.