The once-booming flavored malt beverage (FMB) segment is “showing some concerning declarations over recent weeks,” Bump Williams Consulting (BWC) founder Bump Williams noted in a recent report. FMB volume gains dropped by half – from +2.2%, to +1.1% – from the four-week period to the one-week period ending May 18, according to NIQ retail measurement data cited by BWC.
Convenience stores were a bright spot for the beer category in 2023, with dollar sales in the channel up +5.2% for the first 11 months of the year, according to market research firm Circana. To share insights on how suppliers can make inroads in the channel, Extra Mile Convenience Stores category manager for alcoholic beverages Michelle Abdollah and Bump Williams Consulting VP of analytics and insights Dave Williams shared the stage at Brewbound Live.
Despite recent headwinds, craft beer continues to have the largest share of beer sales at Total Wine & More stores. But “it won’t stay that way” if industry trends continue, according to the chain retailer’s senior director, merchandising, Andrea Starr.
Off-premise trends across beverage-alcohol suggest an even bleaker year ahead for the industry than “what we already limped through in 2024,” according to the latest monthly update from Bump Williams Consulting (BWC) and founder Bump Williams.
The total beer industry ended 2024 in the red, but New England remains a positive beacon, as the region continues to buck trends, Bump Williams Consulting president Dave Williams highlighted earlier this month during a presentation at the New England Craft Brew Summit in Portland, Maine.
2025 kicked off with cautious optimism for the beer category, but that has been quickly subdued after a disappointing February and Super Bowl performance, according to Bump Williams Consulting’s (BWC) monthly report, citing NIQ off-premise data (total U.S. xAOC + liquor + convenience) through mid-February.
Regardless of whether the Philadelphia Eagles or the Kansas City Chiefs take home the Vince Lombardi Trophy this weekend, beer is poised to be the real winner of Super Bowl LIX, according to Bump Williams Consulting’s latest monthly report.
Beer’s battle for shelf space is nowhere near over, according to data from Bump Williams Consulting (BWC), shared by president Dave Williams earlier this month during Beer Business Daily’s Beer, Wine and Spirits Summit in Palm Beach, Florida.
Bump Williams Consulting’s (BWC) theme for 2024: “Crossover canned flavor.” The firm analyzed the top 100 brand families across beer, wine and spirits based on year-to-date (YTD) dollar sales in NIQ off-premise scans (ending December 21), and identified the top performers in three categories: momentum, magnitude and innovation.
The total beer category lost the most share of overall beverage dollars at off-premise retailers year-to-date through late September, according to NIQ data shared by Bump Williams Consulting (BWC). Beer – which includes flavored malt beverages (FMB), hard seltzer and hard cider – lost -0.5 sharepoints for the 39-week period ending September 28.
Flavor-forward innovations are driving beer category growth and this trend is accelerating, according to the most recent report from Bump Williams Consulting (BWC). Of the top 25 growth brands at total U.S. off-premise outlets year-to-date (YTD) through June 15, 13 were “flavor-centric” or ready-to-drink (RTD) offerings, BWC founder Bump Williams noted, citing data from market research firm NIQ.
Move over domestic premiums, imports are king. Imports overtook domestic premiums in dollar sales in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels in the four-week period ending April 20, making imports the No. 1 beer segment in scans.
Craft finished Q1 with dollar sales nearly flat year-over-year (YoY), declining -0.3% in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels (total xAOC + liquor plus + convenience) through March 30, Bump Williams Consulting (BWC) reported in its first quarterly craft report for 2024.
Retailers are “paying increasingly more attention” to the sales rates/velocity of beer brands and it has resulted in the contraction of the amount of brands on shelves, as well as the amount of new brands entering the marketplace, according to Bump Williams’ monthly report for Bump Williams Consulting (BWC).
Non-alcoholic beverage crossover partnerships have created “rapid depth” for beverage-alcohol producers in recent years, according to Bump Williams Consulting’s (BWC) latest monthly report.
The “misalignment” of growth strategies across the supplier, wholesaler and retailer tiers will continue to be a problem for bev-alc in 2024, according to Bump Williams in the first Bump Williams Consulting (BWC) Monthly Industry Update of the year.
