Circana: Top Beer Vendor Declines Accelerate in Last 4 Weeks; Athletic Dominating Grocery Growth

More than half of the top 25 beer vendors have declined in volume year-to-date (YTD), ending October 8, in Circana-tracked off-premise channels, according to the data firm’s monthly beer report.

Ten of those 15 also recorded dollar sales declines, with the largest percentage declines coming from No. 15 Lagunitas Brewing (dollar sales -10.4%, volume -14.2%).

Others to record both volume and dollar sales include:

No. 1 Anheuser-Busch InBev (dollar sales -7.2%, volume -11.1%);
No. 5 Boston Beer (dollar sales -0.2%, volume -4.9%);
No. 11 FIFCO USA (dollar sales -0.5%, volume -4.5%);
No. 17 Gambrinus (dollar sales -2.1%, volume -6%);
No. 18 Mahou USA (dollar sales -1.9%, volume -6.7%);
No. 20 Firestone Walker (dollar sales -8.5%, volume -12.1%);
No. 23 Canarchy (dollar sales -8.4%, volume -12.5%);
No. 24 Tilray Brands (dollar sales -5.4%, volume -8.1%);
And No. 25 Deschutes (dollar sales -3.9%, volume -10.1%).

Five other top vendors recorded volume declines YTD, but are in the green for dollar sales:

No. 4 Mark Anthony Brands (dollar sales +3.6%, volume -1.3%);
No. 6 Heineken USA (dollar sales +2.4%, volume -2.3%);
No. 7 Diageo (dollar sales +1.4%, volume -2.9%);
No. 12 Sierra Nevada (dollar sales +1.3%, volume -3.1%);
And No. 21 Sapporo (dollar sales +1%, volume -0.1%).

Total beer category dollar sales are up +2.9% YTD, while volume is down -2.2%.

Declines accelerated in the last four weeks, with total beer category dollar sales +1.3% year-over-year (YoY), and volume -2.5%.

Seven of the top 25 beer vendors recorded dollar sales in the green. However, six of those seven brands recorded double-digit gains, displaying the inconsistency in top vendor performances between winners and losers.

Vendors in the green in the last four weeks include:

No. 2 Molson Coors (dollar sales +11.9%, volume +8.3%);
No. 3 Constellation Brands (dollar sales +14%, volume +10.8%);
No. 8 Kirin/Lion (dollar sales +16.9%, volume +12.5%);
No. 9 Pabst (dollar sales +5.6%, volume +5.7%);
No. 10 Yuengling (dollar sales +28.5%, volume +23.6%);
No. 13 Geloso (dollar sales +14.6%, volume +14.2%);
And No. 14 Phusion Projects (dollar sales +14.8%, volume +10.9%).

The convenience channel continues to be the strongest channel for beer growth (dollar sales +5.6% YTD), despite volume entering the red in the latest report (-0.7% YTD).

Eight of the top 25 beer vendors in c-stores recorded dollar sales and volume declines YoY, seven of which were in the bottom half of the list, including:

No. 17 Lagunitas (dollar sales -8.6%, volume -12.9%);
No. 18 Gambrinus (dollar sales -2.5%, volume -7.4%);
No. 19 CANarchy (dollar sales -0.2%, volume -5.6%);
No. 20 Firestone Walker (dollar sales -6.3%, volume -11%);
No. 22 Tilray Brands (dollar sales -7.4%, volume -12.5%);
No. 23 Mahou (dollar sales -5.9%, volume -10.5%);
And No. 24 Sapporo (dollar sales -6.2%, volume -8.6%).

No. 1 A-B also continued its declines in the channel (dollar sales -6.2%%, volume -10.7%).

In the last four weeks, six of the top 25 vendors recorded dollar sales and volume declines YoY.

Declines accelerated for A-B (dollar sales -11% YoY, volume -13.8%), Firestone Walker (dollar sales -2.3%, volume -6.1%), Tilray (dollar sales -17.9%, volume -21.3%), Mahou (dollar sales -6.2%, volume -9.4%), and Sapporo (dollar sales -11%, volume -12.7%). Lagunitas (dollar sales -5.5%, volume -10.1%) and Gambrinus (dollar sales -1.1%, volume -3.9%) saw their declines slow in the four-week period.

No. 15 Sazerac (dollar sales -9.7%, volume -13.9%) and No. 21 Artisanal Brewing Ventures (dollar sales -0.8%, volume -1.5%) also recorded YoY c-store declines in the period, but are in the green YTD.

In grocery, beer dollar sales were down -1.3% YTD, and volume -5.1%.

No. 19 Athletic Brewing stands out among the list of top 25 vendors – many of whom recorded single-digit gains or losses – with a +112.5% increase in dollar sales and +109.5% increase in volume YTD for the non-alcoholic (NA) beer brand. In the last four weeks, Athletic dollar sales increased +99.6% YoY and volume +98.6%.

The only other top 25 vendor to record double-digit gains in the period was No. 9 Yuengling (dollar sales +16.7% YoY, volume +10.6%).

Three other top vendors recorded c-store dollar sales and volume gains in the period: