The latest NIQ On Premise analysis reveals a beer category that continues to face volume pressure, but one where performance varies significantly by segment, format, and occasion. The findings also highlight meaningful shifts in on-premise consumption that extend beyond topline category performance.
This report examines the underlying trends shaping beverage performance through the first half of 2026, including category growth, market share shifts, channel performance, and product innovation.
The latest NIQ on premise update highlights a beer category under pressure, with both value and volume declining over the past year. In contrast, spirits and RTDs continue to capture share, supported by price-led growth and shifting consumer preferences.
More than 1,900 fewer beer category (beer/FMB/cider) products — a majority of which were made by independent and longtail craft producers — were sold in off-premise retailers during the first six weeks of the COVID-19 crisis compared to the same period in 2019, according to market research firm Nielsen.
Total beer category dollar sales in off-premise retailers reaccelerated slightly for the week ending April 4, increasing 19% compared to the same one-week period in 2019, according to market research firm Nielsen.
After consecutive weeks of consumers stocking up on alcoholic beverages at off-premise retailers in mid-March due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the first signs of a slowdown began to show during the week ending March 28, according to market research firm Nielsen.
Brewers Association-defined craft beer companies could lose nearly 18 million cases equivalents if the shutdown of nearly all U.S. on-premise outlets forced by COVID-19 lasts through April, Nielsen CGA client solutions director Matthew Crompton shared during Friday’s Brewers Association Power Hour webinar.
Danelle Kosmal, Nielsen’s VP of beverage alcohol practice, shared thoughts on beverage alcohol’s big stock up, if the trends will continue, the spike in e-commerce sales and more.
As the coronavirus shut down on-premise channels in the U.S. and consumers began stocking up amid stay-at-home orders, sales increased for every beer category segment — and many increased double digits — in off-premise retailers tracked by market research firm Nielsen during the week ending March 14.
Cider category dollar share shrank in 2019, however, the growth of regional and local producers proved to be a bright spot, Danny Brager, senior VP of market research firm Nielsen’s beverage alcohol practice, shared Thursday during the American Cider Association’s (ACA) annual CiderCon conference in Oakland, California.
Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers in Miami marks the first major beer-drinking occasion of 2020. In 2019, U.S. consumers spent $1.2 billion on beer at off-premise retailers in the two weeks leading up to the game between the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots, according to market research firm Nielsen. Those sales were roughly flat, though, down 0.5%, compared to 2018.
Total beer dollar sales in 2019 increased to $37.2 billion in U.S. off-premise retailers, according to market research firm IRI. The Chicago-based market research firm, which tracks category-wide sales at major off-premise retailers, reported a 5.2% increase in beer dollar sales, and a 2.3% increase in volume sales at multi-outlet and convenience (MULC) stores (grocery, drug, club, dollar, mass-merchandiser and military) through December 29.
Off-premise dollar sales of hard seltzers are on pace to hit $1.5 billion by the end of 2019, Nielsen’s beverage alcohol practice team shared earlier this month during the Brewbound Live business conference in Santa Monica. Nielsen’s beverage alcohol practice team members Danelle Kosmal and Caitlyn Battaglia shared that hard seltzers now account for 5% of all beer category dollars.
With just one month left in 2019, off-premise beer dollar and volume sales appear poised to finish in the black. Through the first 11 months of 2019, off-premise beer category dollar sales in multi-outlet and convenience stores tracked by market research firm IRI are up 5.2%, to nearly $34.5 billion, while volume sales are up 2.3%. The largest dollar sales growth in 2019 thus far has come from flavored malt beverages, including hard seltzers.
The tidal wave of hard seltzers shows no signs of slowing down, market research firm Nielsen’s beverage alcohol practice team shared Thursday during the Brewbound Live business conference in Santa Monica.
Consumers are considering health and wellness more and drinking less but willing to spend more on alcoholic beverages when they do drink, members of market research firm Nielsen’s beverage alcohol team shared during last week’s Brewers Association Power Hour webinar. Here are three takeaways from Nielsen’s latest update on craft’s mid-year performance. Consumers More Mindful… Read more »
The key summer selling season ended on a high note for the beer category, as dollar sales of beer, cider and FMBs increased 4.4% in off-premise retailers during the Labor Day holiday week (ending August 31) compared to the same time last year, market research firm Nielsen reported.
