Increased nationwide distribution and product innovation is making mead ia go-to choice for adventurous consumers, particularly among craft beer enthusiasts.
“As distribution, as well as craft offerings, have risen in the category, so has consumer awareness of mead,” says Liz Paquette, Drizly’s head of consumer insights, who notes the number of mead SKUs on the platform has grown by 130% from the close of 2019. “This suggests that retail distribution of the category has increased significantly over the past year and a half, which is likely a key factor in the growth of consumer awareness and share of the category.”
The mead category accounts for just 0.1 percent share of the total wine category on Drizly in 2021. Within the specialty wine category, however—which includes sangria, fruit wine, non-alcoholic wine, mulled wine, and more—mead accounts for over 9% of share in 2021 to date, up from 8.1% in 2019.
This gradual yet consistent growth across the Drizly platform mirrors the mead industry’s larger growth trends. According to Nielsen data, off-premise mead sales in the U.S. have grown by 19.5% in the 52-week period ending Sept. 5, 2021, expanding on a trend the data giant has seen since 2018. Within the three-year period ending Sept. 8, 2021, off-premise mead purchasing has grown by 54.3%, indicating sustained growth and the potential of mead as a serious revenue driver for well-stocked retailers.
James Boicourt, owner and co-founder of Charm City Meadworks, Baltimore —the fourth-best selling mead brand on Drizly in both 2020 and 2021—believes the trend in mead consumption is thanks to product innovation within the category.
“The product offerings themselves have changed a lot from what mead was just five years ago,” he says. “In particular, we really tend to focus today on meads that are lighter, drier, and more refreshing. We’re treating our meads more like a new category, rather than sort of looking at mead through its historic lens.”
Yet the rise in mead consumption isn’t limited to new market entrants or mead formats: Consumption of traditionally made, off-dry meads is growing rapidly according to California-based Chaucer’s Mead, the second-most popular mead brand on Drizly in 2021.
Top-Selling Meads
The top-selling meads on Drizly are split evenly between domestic producers and Danish brands, which account for 45% of share each. This is a shift from 2020, when American-made meads amounted to 49% of share, suggesting that international brands are growing in popularity across the U.S.
The top 10 most popular mead brands on Drizly in 2021 are largely identical to the top brands of 2020, with eight of the same key players on both lists. This data suggests existing mead brands have a strong foothold in the marketplace and a relatively loyal following among consumers.
In terms of individual SKUs, Danish powerhouse Dansk crafts six of the top 10 most popular mead products on Drizly in 2021—up from five of the most popular SKUs in 2020—suggesting dominance in the Danish segment of this category.
Overall, the most popular brands are also divided by the style of their products, with traditional sweet meads and modern, drier styles holding similar share. As a result, retailers should consider offering meads across the sweetness spectrum to take advantage of this rising category.
Drizly’s Top-Selling Mead Brands, 2021 to Date
- Dansk
- Chaucers
- Redstone Meadery
- Charm City Meadworks
- Bunratty
- Meadery of the Rockies
- Thorin’s Mead
- Moonlight Meadery
- Superstition Meadery
- B. Nektar