More People Visit Bars, Restaurants: Nielsen

When government imposes strict limits on bars and restaurants to control Covid-19, visitations actually increase.  That, at least, appears to be the case based on Nielsen data from Florida.  Nationwide, 46% of those Nielsen surveyed have been out to eat in the past two weeks and 14% have been out for a drink.

Mid-value drinks/brands are the most frequently ordered in bars/restaurants (50%) and 7/10 consumers are doing this as frequently as pre COVID-19.

On the flip side, 35% of consumers ordered a premium drink in the last two weeks, but 50% of those consumers said they are doing this more than pre Covid-19. This shows a group of consumers are treating themselves within the On Premise market.

The number of consumers going out at least three times in the last two weeks  continues to increase, showing frequent visitation is still seeing improvement and those who are going out are growing confidence.

Off-premise sales also increased, with the year-over-year growth rate for total bev/al off-premise dollar sales within Nielsen-measured channels was 18.4% in the past two weeks, and 23.4% for the entire 24-week pandemic period.

Spirits continued to lead off-premise growth, up 27.5%,  Nielsen said, followed by wine, up 17.7% in dollar sales and beer/FMB/cider up 15.7%.  Wine grew 17.7% in dollar sales, and beer/FMB/cider growth was at +15.7%.

“Canned alcoholic beverages have received a lot of attention, and for good reason,” said Danelle Kosmal, vp-beverage alcohol at Nielsen.  “Compared to last year, all within off-premise channels, canned beer/FMB/cider is up 25% during the pandemic, and canned spirits are +140%. And as restaurants began to expand on ideas like canned wine gardens, it will be interesting to see if this will further normalize the idea of cans and other alternative packaging for wine and even ready-to-drink cocktails.”

For the latest week in off premise sales, all segments are growing, except below premium, which is down slightly (-0.3%) compared to the same week last year. Premium light brands are up 6.4%, with all three premium light brands among the top 15 growth brands for the week.

Hard seltzers led growth, up 123% for the latest week compared to last year. “As a reminder, there are very tough comps from August 2019 for hard seltzer, so the continued triple-digit growth for hard seltzers is one of so many signs that hard seltzers will not slow down,” Nielsen said. For COVID weeks (beginning first week of March), hard seltzers accounted for 9.2% of total category dollars in off premise. Hard seltzer share has accelerated during the summer months, and now accounts for 10.5% of category dollars for the latest 11 weeks ending Aug. 15.

Other strong segments for the week included hard tea +38%, super premium +22%, craft +14.4%, cider +11.9%, and non-alcoholic beer +40%. Mexican imports had its strongest week in a while, up 11.2%.

With the improvement in craft beer trends in off premise, particularly during the past several weeks, we dug into some of the specific styles that are driving those growth trends. Total craft growth for COVID year to date (week ending March 7 throughAug. 15) is 15.8% in Nielsen off premise channels.

IPAs (+26.5%) continue to outpace total craft growth in off premise, and are still by far the largest style in craft beer, accounting for 41% of off premise craft dollars for COVID year to date. This is up from 37% for that same time period last year. However, Nielsen said, “most of that share growth was driven by hazy IPAs and imperial/double/triple IPAs.

“If we were to remove hazy and double/triple IPAs from the scope, IPAs would be up 18% in dollar growth, and account for 26.8% of craft off premise dollars, up only 0.5 share points from last year. Hazy styles now account for 7.0% of craft off premise dollars, and are up 78% in dollar sales for the COVID YTD time period compared to last year,” Nielsen said.

“Other craft beer styles that are leading growth in off premise during COVID weeks include American wheat ales (+113%), sour ales (+61.3%) and non-alcoholic craft beers (+176%).

WINE: OFF PREMISE

In Nielsen off premise channels, wine is up 25.5% in dollar growth for COVID weeks, and up 17.7% for the latest week ending 8/15/20.

Sparkling wine growth (+35.5%) continues to outpace growth of table wine (+13.5%), with French champagne leading (+72.3%).

Wine-based cocktails had triple-digit growth in the latest week, up 109% compared to the same week last year.

Within table wine, all price tiers are growing, with the exception of value wines (<$4), which were down 5.3% in off premise for the latest week. All price tiers $11 and higher are experiencing strong double-growth in off premise channels for the latest week.

SPIRITS: OFF PREMISE

In Nielsen off premise channels, total spirits are up 33.8% for the COVID YTD time period, and up 27.5% for the latest week.

For the latest week, ready-to-drink cocktails lead growth, up 113%, followed by tequila (+61.2%), cognac (+59.8%), cordials (32.2%) and whiskey (+25.6%).

Small spirits sizes continue to bounce back in growth compared to early COVID weeks, with 100 ml bottles up 33.9% and 50 ml up 22.9% for the latest week in off premise channels.

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