“Flavor” is one of the trendiest words in beverage-alcohol right now, with producers across beer, wine and spirits boasting “flavor-forward” innovations. While the term may have gotten muddled in its overuse, data suggests flavor-focused offerings are leading in bev-alc categories in terms of new and incremental growth, according to Bump Williams of Bump Williams Consulting (BWC).
“I know that a lot of conversation lately around the beverage alcohol landscape tends to focus on flavor and the growing role those categories/segments/brands/attributes play in the space, but when you look at the current leaders of both beer and spirits today when it comes to growth and innovation, that role is hard to ignore,” Williams wrote in his firm’s Monthly Industry Update.
Within the beer category, more than half of the top 25 new beer brands year-to-date (ending May 20) in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels (total U.S. xAOC + liquor plus + convenience) are flavored malt beverages (FMBs), according to data shared by BWC. Many of those brands are bev-alc entrants by historically non-alcoholic beverage producers, including:
- No. 3 The Beast Unleashed variety pack, No. 14 The Beast Unleashed Mean Green and No. 23 The Beast Unleashed White Haze from energy drink maker Monster;
- No. 4 Simply Spiked Peach variety pack, No. 9 Simply Spiked Strawberry Lemonade and No. 10 Simply Spiked Signature Lemonade from Molson Coors, via its licensing deal with Coca-Cola;
- No. 18 Bojangles Hard Sweet Tea from Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) and Appalachian Mountain Brewery, via a licensing deal with the fast-food restaurant;
- And No. 24 Lipton Hard Iced Tea variety pack from FIFCO USA, via a licensing deal with PepsiCo.
The No. 1 new beer brand year-to-date (YTD) is Constellation Brands’ Modelo Chelada variety pack, launched in August, followed by New Belgium’s Voodoo Ranger Fruit Force IPA, launched in early 2023. Both are extensions of existing brand families.
Constellation also claimed the No. 1 beer growth driver YTD with Modelo Especial. Growth drivers are determined by which brands post the most incremental growth in a period. Modelo Especial increased dollar sales +8.2% and volume (measured by case sales) +3.7% YTD in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels.
Molson Coors’ Miller Lite (dollar sales +11.6%, volume +5.6%) and Coors Lite (dollar sales +8.1%, volume +1.7%) were the second and third largest beer growth drivers, respectively, in the period. However, in the last four weeks, both Miller Lite and Coors Lite surpassed Modelo in growth rankings, a “temporary shift or a sneak preview of what this summer might bring” if the brands can keep up their momentum, according to Williams. Molson Coors’ flagship light lagers have been credited as the biggest beneficiaries of the downturn in Bud Light sales.
A-B’s Michelob Ultra (dollar sales +6.1%, volume +1.4%) and Busch Light (dollar sales +9.8%, volume +1.8%) claimed the fourth and fifth spots, respectively. Both brands have “seen their momentum stumble a bit over [the] recent seven weeks,” following blowback against A-B and Bud Light after an influencer partnership with a transgender woman. However, both Michelob Ultra and Busch Light are “clearly a sizable source of incremental [dollars] for the beer category overall on a YTD basis thanks to their hot start [in 2023],” Williams said.
Boston Beer’s Twisted Tea variety pack was the No. 5 largest growth brand in the category, increasing dollar sales +116.4% and volume +20.5% YTD. Three total Twisted Tea offerings made the top 25 list of growth brands, including Twisted Tea Half & Half and Twisted Tea Original. The hard tea brand was bested only by Modelo, which had four different members of its brand family in the top 25.
Four craft beer brands made the top 25 new brands list, including Fruit Force. Other craft breweries represented were Sierra Nevada with a Hazy Little Thing rotator, Bell’s Brewery with its Hearted IPA variety pack, and Founders Brewing with its All Day variety pack.
In the spirits category, High Noon Sun Sips variety pack, the vodka-based ready-to-drink canned cocktail (RTD) from E. & J. Gallo was the No. 1 growth driver YTD, increasing dollar sales +59.5% and volume +7.8%. The RTD outpaced Tito’s Vodka, the category leader, in terms of incremental growth, with the vodka brand ranking No. 2, increasing dollar sales +4.2% and decreasing volume -0.5% YTD.
“Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that the High Noon Tropical variety pack is currently sitting at No. 3, sandwiching Tito’s and giving High Noon two of the top 3 growth brands for the entire spirits category,” Williams said.
Ten of the top 25 overall spirits growth drivers were RTDs, five of which were High Noon offerings. Other RTD brand families on the list include A-B’s Cutwater Spirits and Nütrl Vodka Seltzer, as well as Mom Water, a fruit-infused vodka-water.
- E. & J. Gallo also had the No. 1 new spirits brand YTD with its tequila-based High Noon extension, High Noon Tequila Seltzer. Truly Vodka Soda, Boston Beer’s first spirits-based extension of its Truly Hard Seltzer brand, was No. 3, followed by Mark Anthony Brand’s vodka-based hard seltzer extension, White Claw Vodka + Soda.
Ten other RTDs (including premixed cocktails) made the top 25 list of new spirits brands, including several crossover brand collaborations with non-alcoholic beverage producers:
- No. 5 Jack Daniel’s & Coca-Cola;
- No. 6 Sunny D Vodka Seltzer;
- And No. 12 Fresca Mixed Vodka Spritz and No. 18 Fresca Mixed Tequila Paloma from Constellation, via a licensing deal with Coca-Cola.
Williams also called out Sazarac and its Fireball brand, which was a top growth driver for both beer and spirits, with Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey and its malt-based version Fireball Red Hot Cinnamon.