Well, that didn’t go as expected.
Heading into the Labor Day holiday weekend, off-premise dollar sales of beer, cider and FMBs increased 12.2%, and once again topped $1 billion, for the one-week period ending September 5, according to market research firm Nielsen.
A billion dollars of sales is great and all, but as Nielsen VP of beverage alcohol practice Danelle Kosmal wrote, “given that Labor Day is one of the biggest beer holidays, we would have expected sales to be higher.”
Indeed, off-premise dollar sales of beer were up week-over-week — recall sales were up just 7.5% for the week ending August 29 — but the growth rate has slowed considerably from the peak of the pandemic weeks. From early March through early September, beer category dollar sales are up 18.3%.
Granted, the Labor Day holiday weekend brings tough comps, and Nielsen has not yet shared data from the Sunday and Monday of the Labor Day holiday. Even against those elevated sales levels from a year ago, hard seltzers increased off-premise dollar sales 99% during the one-week period heading into the holiday weekend.
Hard seltzer accounted for 46% of total beer category growth, and 10% of the category dollars, Kosmal wrote. However, the average case price of hard seltzer was down 10.1% compared to last year, so clearly some deep discounting was enticing consumers during the weekend.
Overall, average price per case for beer category offerings in Nielsen tracked channels was up 2.6%, to $25.56 per case, compared to the same one-week period last year. The average case price for craft beer was down 1.1%.
For the first week of September, craft beer sales increased 10% in off-premise retailers, and accounted for 10% of beer category growth. Other segments posting growth for the week included Mexican imports (+8.7% in dollar sales and accounting for 11.5% of category growth) and super premium brands (+14.9% and making up 11% of beer category growth).
The top five growth drivers for the week in the overall beer category were White Claw (Mark Anthony Brands) variety pack No. 2, Michelob Ultra (Anheuser-Busch InBev), Truly Hard Seltzer Lemonade mixed pack (Boston Beer), Bud Light Seltzer variety pack (A-B) and Modelo Especial (Constellation Brands), Nielsen said.
Within the craft segment, the top five growth drivers were Blue Moon Light Sky (Molson Coors), New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA (Lion Little World Beverages), Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing IPA, Blue Moon White (Molson Coors) and Elysian’s variety pack (A-B).
So where were consumers making those purchases? Beer category dollar sales growth in the liquor (31%) and convenience (+17.7%) channels “far outpaced the growth” in the grocery channel (+3.4%), Kosmal wrote.
Consumers within the beer category are still reaching for larger pack sizes too, as the growth rates of 30-packs (+16.7%), 24-packs (+22.8%) and 12-packs (+24.1%) outpaced those of 6-packs (+2.5%)
“Compared to pre-COVID time periods, 12-packs and 24-packs continue to gain share, while 6-packs and singles lose share,” Kosmal wrote.
Next week, look for a summer 2020 recap from Nielsen.