One-third of the top 30 craft brands recorded gains in both dollar sales and volume in Circana-tracked multi-outlet grocery and convenience stores in the 12-week period ending September 10, which includes the bulk of the summer selling season.
They include:
- Kirin-owned New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA (+13.6% in dollars, +8.8% in volume);
- New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Juice Force Hazy Imperial IPA (+55.2% in dollars, +55.3% in volume);
- Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing (+9.9% in dollars, +4.7% in volume);
- Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Kona Big Wave (+53.7% in dollars, +51.5% in volume);
- Kirin-owned Bell’s Two Hearted IPA (+11.5% in dollars, +7.6% in volume);
- Monster’s Cigar City Jai Alai IPA (+4.1% in dollars, +0.4% in volume);
- New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Hoppy Pack variety pack (+15.5% in dollars, +10.5% in volume);
- Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA (+3.6% in dollars, +0.6% in volume);
- A-B’s Goose Island Tropical Beer Hug DDH Double IPA (+79.5% in dollars, +72.4% in volume);
- A-B’s Wicked Weed Pernicious IPA (+2.6% in dollars, +0.8% in volume).
Of those 10, the majority have also recorded positive dollar and volume trends year-to-date (YTD). Only Jai Alai (+1.4% in dollars, -2.8% in volume) and Torpedo (-3.3% in dollars, -6% in volume) have not.
New Belgium and Bell’s, both in the portfolio of Kirin-owned Lion Little World Beverages, have a combined nine brands on Circana’s top 30 craft list for multi-outlet and convenience stores, a plurality. In addition to the four aforementioned brands, the top 30 list also includes New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Fruit Force IPA, New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze IPA, New Belgium Fat Tire, New Belgium Voodoo Ranger IPA and Bell’s seasonal.
A-B has five brands in the top 30 (Elysian Space Dust IPA, Kona Big Wave, Goose Island Tropical Beer Hug, Goose Island IPA and Wicked Weed Pernicious IPA), and Molson Coors has three (Blue Moon Belgian White Ale, Blue Moon Light Sky and Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy).
As the Voodoo Ranger brand family grows, blockbusters such as Juice Force (+98.3% in dollar sales, to $82.1 million, YTD through September 10) and Fruit Force ($33 million since its January 2023 launch) may be cannibalizing their sister brands, such as Voodoo Ranger IPA (down -17.6% in dollar sales YTD) and Juicy Haze IPA (down -11.3% in dollar sales YTD).
Still, New Belgium’s colorful brand platform claims the No. 1 and No. 2 IPAs in the country in Circana-tracked channels: Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA (+13.1% in dollar sales, to $117.3 million YTD) and Juice Force. Combined, these two account for 6.13% of craft dollars spent in Circana-tracked retailers.
The Voodoo Ranger brand family’s weight is acutely felt in the convenience channel, where five of its SKUs are included in Circana’s top 30 craft brands and account for 14.46% of craft dollars YTD.
In c-stores, Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA is closing in on segment leader Blue Moon Belgian White Ale in both dollar sales and dollar share. The skeleton-bedecked IPA increased c-store sales +14.7% YTD, to $65.6 million, and accounted for 5.78% of all craft convenience dollars, a +0.5% increase. Blue Moon’s flagship’s dollar sales declined -2.1% YTD, to $67 million, and its dollar share declined -0.41%, to 5.9%.
Regional Offerings Pop in C-Store Channel
Three regional brands popped in Circana’s c-store data YTD through September 10:
- Rhinegeist Truth IPA (+9% in dollars, to $8 million, +5.7% in volume);
- Georgetown Bodhizafa IPA (+21.1% in dollars, to $5.9 million, +16.8% in volume);
- And 10 Barrel Pub Lager (+29.4% in dollars, to $5.8 million, +22.9% in volume).
None have national distribution. Cincinnati-based Rhinegeist distributes to Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Houston, Texas. Seattle-based Georgetown distributes to Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Bend Oregon-based 10 Barrel’s distribution footprint includes Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Colorado and California,
Canadian cannabis company Tilray Brands has agreed to acquire 10 Barrel from A-B, along with several other brands from the company’s High End craft division. The transaction is expected to close later this year.
Overall, craft dollar sales have increased +4.8% in c-stores YTD, to $1.136 billion. That trend accelerated during the summer selling season, increasing to +6% in the L12W, but has settled back down to +4.4% in the L4W.