The stock up of alcoholic beverages caused by the novel coronavirus COVID-19 began to slow down during the week ending March 28, as many industry watchers had predicted.
For the weeks ending March 14 and March 21, total beer category dollar sales increased 14% and 42%, respectively, compared to the same weeks in 2019, according to off-premise sales tracked by market research firm Nielsen.
However, for the week ending March 28, beer, cider and FMB dollar sales began to decelerate, but were still up 17% compared to the same period last year.
Bump Williams Consulting has been parsing the data, offering top-level views and deep dives into the weekly data. BWC VP of business development and portfolio strategy Brian “BK” Krueger joined Brewbound editor Justin Kendall to give a quick look at the week as off-premise sales began to slow and what’s to come in the weeks ahead.
“It’s going to get into a few more patterns where you’re going to see pulsing in and out probably on a biweekly basis,” he explained. “A slowdown doesn’t mean we’ve stopped growing though.”
Krueger discusses the patterns consumers are beginning to settle into, including the frequency of shopping trips, the regionality of purchasing behaviors, the possible return to consumers seeking variety and more.
“I do think that you are going to see some of these trusted and familiar brands maintain a foothold, and have another second surge and use this as a way to launch and extend the relationship that they have with the comfortable consumer right now.”
Watch the video interview above, and look for additional video conversations in the coming days and weeks on Brewbound.com.