Six beer category segments were represented among the top 25 new beer brands in 2022, creating a list of “innovation leaders [that] are much more diverse this year,” Bump Williams Consulting (BWC) noted in its January 2023 report.
Of the top 25 beer brands that did not record off-premise dollar sales in 2021, seven were flavored malt beverages (FMBs), six were craft beers, six were hard seltzers, four were imports, and one each came from the domestic premium and cider segments.
“It’s always a plus when growth is able to come from multiple segments/styles of beer vs. relying heavily (or exclusively) on one area to do the heavy lifting,” BWC wrote.
The best-selling new beer category brand in the 52 weeks ending December 24 was Mark Anthony Brands’ White Claw Surf variety pack, which reached $31.9 million in dollar sales at grocery stores tracked by market research firm NielsenIQ, according to data BWC shared. With 52.9% category weighted distribution (CWD), the White Claw Surf variety pack was second only to Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Bud Light Next (60.5%) in distribution.
Bud Light Next, the only domestic premium product among the top 25 new beer brands, was the third largest new product with $27.3 million in grocery sales.
Simply Spiked Lemonade variety pack, which Molson Coors produces through a licensing partnership with Coca-Cola, was the second best-selling new brand, with $31.2 million in grocery sales, according to NielsenIQ data shared by BWC. Simply Spiked, which launched in June 2022, was the best-selling new FMB in 2022.
Other FMB innovation products in the top 25 new brands include No. 6 Mark Anthony’s Cayman Jack Margarita variety pack ($15.2 million at grocery stores through December 24), No. 7 Boston Beer’s Hard MTN Dew ($14.9 million), No. 8 Mark Anthony’s Mike’s Hard Freeze ($12.7), No. 13 Pabst’s Jack Daniels Country Cocktails variety pack ($3.2 million), No. 18 Diageo’s Lone River Ranch Rita ($2.5 million), and No. 22 Boston Beer’s Sauza Agave Cocktails variety pack ($1.8 million).
The best-selling hard seltzer innovation products following White Claw Surf include No. 4 Molson Coors Topo Chico Margarita hard seltzer variety pack ($21.4 million at grocery stores through December 24), No. 9 A-B’s Michelob Ultra Organic Seltzer Essential Collection variety pack ($10.7 million), No. 10 Molson Coors’ Vizzy Hard Seltzer Mimosa variety pack ($10.6 million), No. 11 Mark Anthony’s White Claw Refrshr Lemonade ($8.2 million), and No. 23 New Belgium Fruit Smash Super Hard Seltzer variety pack ($1.7 million).
New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Juice Force was the best-selling craft innovation product and the fifth-largest new beer brand with grocery store sales of $20.5 million through December 24, followed by No. 12 Blue Moon Light Sky Tropical Ale ($6.5 million), No. 17 Molson Coors’ Leinenkugel’s Juicy Peach ($2.6 million), No. 19 Victory Berry Monkey ($2.4 million), No. 20 Samuel Adams Wicked IPA Party Pack ($2.4 million) and No. 24 Sierra Nevada Sunny Little Thing Citrus Wheat Ale ($1.6 million).
Diageo-owned Guinness 0 Non-Alcoholic Draught was the best-selling new import beer and 15th largest new beer brand overall with $2.65 million in grocery store sales through December 24, followed by three innovation products from Constellation Brands’ Modelo family: No. 16 Modelo Chelada variety pack ($2.61 million), No. 21 Modelo Chelada Naranja Picosa ($2.11 million) and No. 25 Modelo Oro ($1.58 million).
Ten of the top 25 new SKUs are variety packs, and 13 are fruit-driven hard seltzers or FMBs. Several of the leading craft launches also feature fruit flavors.
“Flavor, in multiple formats, ranks front and center as a key attribute among new brands,” BWC wrote.
Eight of the top 25 new beer category brands have CWD at grocery stores below 10%, indicating that they have plenty of runway for growth. Those brands include:
- Hard MTN Dew, 8.8% CWD;
- Modelo Chelada variety pack, 6.2% CWD;
- Leinenkugel’s Juicy Peach, 8% CWD;
- Victory Berry Monkey, 9.2% CWD;
- Samuel Adams Wicked IPA Party Pack, 8.6% CWD;
- Sauza Agave Cocktails variety pack, 9.9% CWD;
- Fruit Smash Super Hard Seltzer variety pack, 7.5% CWD;
- Modelo Oro, 3.3% CWD.
Among the top 25 largest brands overall, 16 brands recorded dollar sales growth at grocery stores, but only eight of those also posted volume increases, indicating that sales growth is coming from price increases, rather than true growth.
“The beer category had an interesting year in food, with [dollar sales] trends that did manage to post growth at +0.7% … but with volume [case equivalent] trends that ended the year with moderate declines of -3.5%,” BWC wrote. “So, in a year where the category did technically grow on one sales metric, the fact that volume sales posted another year of declining trends does raise somewhat of a concern when it comes to the true health of the category.”
The brands that grew in both metrics include:
- A-B’s Michelob Ultra, +9.8% in dollars sales and +6.1% in volume;
- Constellation’s Modelo Especial, +14.1% in dollar sales and +9.2% in volume;
- Constellation’s Corona Extra, +9.6% in dollar sales and +5.8% in volume;
- A-B’s Busch Light, +12.4% in dollar sales and +5.5% in volume;
- Molson Coors’ Miller High Life, +10.5% in dollar sales and +3.2% in volume;
- Molson Coors’ Coors Banquet, +12.5% in dollar sales and +6.3% in volume;
- Mark Anthony’s White Claw variety pack No. 3, +12.3% in dollar sales and +7.7% in volume;
- Constellation’s Pacifico, +27.3% in dollar sales and +23.7% in volume.