This is different: Wine led all bev/al categories in terms of dollar sales off-premise in the week ended Aug. 29 growing 13%, Nielsen says. Spirits grew 12.4% in dollar sales and Beer/FMB/cider growth was at +7.1%. Core beer, excluding FMB/seltzer, grew 2.4%.
With restrictions and limited traffic in the on-premise, the shift in alcohol volume continues to move towards the off-premise, which was up 9.4%, outpacing growth of total FMCG.
Danelle Kosmal, vp-beverage alcohol at Nielsen, believes the slowdown was caused by the timing of Labor Day, which occurred on the Aug. 31 weekend last year.
For nearly every week since the beginning of March, spirits was the fastest growing category in off-premise alcohol. However, wine broke through this week as the fastest growing category, up 13.0% in off-premise for the week ending 8/29/20 compared to the same week last year. Spirits was very close behind that, up 12.4%.”
The week was full of other anomolies, too. For instance, this was the first week since the end of April that beer/FMB/cider category sales dipped below $1 billion in Nielsen off premise sales.
For the latest week ending Aug. 29, below premium beer was down 4.8%, premium light was off 0.5%, and FMBs (excludes hard seltzer) slipped 5%.
Hard seltzer growth slowed to double-digit growth, up 87% compared to the same week last year, which again, included Labor Day weekend sales for 2019.
Hard seltzer sales have slowed for the latest week when comparing to prior weeks as well.
Beginning mid-May 2020, hard seltzers experienced 14 consecutive weeks of sales surpassing $100 million in Nielsen off-premise channels. This is the first week since May that sales dipped below that $100 million, with just over $97 million in off-premise sales.
Pack size also played a role in this week’s performance. This was the first time since March that 30 packs lost share, down 0.2 share points compared to the same week last year.
Wine Off Premise
Turning to off-premise wine sales, wine led total alcohol growth in the Aug. 29 week, up 13% compared to the same week last year in Nielsen off premise channels.
Unlike beer and spirits, which lagged prior week sales, wine sales grew 0.9% for the latest week compared to the prior week.
Sparkling wine continues to lead growth in off premise, up 27.3% compared to the same week last year. Table wine grew 9.6% in off premise dollar sales for the latest week.
Wine-based cocktails have once again achieved triple-digit growth, up 103%. Premium price tiers continue to lead growth, with all price tiers $11 and above in double-digit growth for the latest week.
Spirits Off-Premise
Total spirits growth decelerated to +12.4% in the week ended Aug. 29, compared to the same week last year and declined 1.9% compared to the week prior in Nielsen off premise channels.
Across price tiers, growth slowed across all segments, but more so in the mid price tier (+2.7%) and premium price tier (+13.9%). Ultra premium, while slowing, was still up 29.4%.
On the other hand, the value price tier declined 3% in off-premise dollar sales compared to the same week last year.