NEW YORK -- Another flat month for carbonated soft drinks should be good news for the ailing beverage category, but the 0.1% growth in dollar sales comes as an offset of increased pricing (+4.6%) at the expense of volume declines (-4.3%), according to Nielsen take-home channel data for the four weeks ending Dec. 20, 2014.
“Coca-Cola continues to lead pricing growth in CSDs (+7.0%),” said analyst Bonnie Herzog of Well Fargo Securities. “We remain encouraged about Coca-Cola’s CSD pricing strategy discipline, which continues to support industry-leading top-line growth.”
- Coca-Cola’s total company dollar sales for the 4-week period were up +2.0% (and up +1.7% for 12 weeks). Coca-Cola’s CSD dollar sales were up +1.0% (+1.7% for 12-wks) on -5.6% equivalent unit sales (volume) declines offset by strong +7.0% pricing. The company’s liquid teas dollar sales growth remains very strong, up +36.3%, as was bottled water dollar sales (+10.4%); however, juices continue to decline.
- PepsiCo’s total company dollar sales were up +1.0% for the recent 4-weeks (+1.8% for 12-weeks), “even as salty-snack growth slowed following last period's impressive +4.7% growth with +1.4% growth in the recent 4-week period (+2.6% for 12-wks,” Herzog wrote. Total CSD dollar sales were down -1.7% (-0.8% for last 12-weeks) on -5.5% equivalent unit volume decline, partially offset by +4.0% pricing growth, the highest level in over a year. “Ongoing improvements in Gatorade led to solid +8.8% growth in sports drinks, while liquid teas and energy drinks continue to grow at double-digit rates,” Herzog said of PepsiCo. “Despite soft results in snacks and CSDs, PepsiCo was able to deliver positive overall sales growth this period through strength in its stills portfolio.”
- Dr Pepper Snapple Group saw total company dollar sales up +0.9% in the recent 4-weeks (+0.4% for 12 weeks). CSD dollar sales were up +0.7% for both the 4-week and 12-week periods on +2.9% equivalent unit pricing and -2.1% equivalent unit sales declines while tea dollar sales were up +2.3% this period. “DPS was able to achieve positive sales growth and unit share gains in CSDs this period, which we believe was driven by pricing growth below that of its peers.”
Overall, liquid teas remain strong with dollar sales growth of +10.5%, while sports drinks were up 8.5% led by ongoing strength in Gatorade. Bottled water dollar sales were up +4.2%, and energy-drink dollar sales were up a solid +12.5% led by significant sequential improvements by Monster.
- Monster’s total company dollar sales growth was solid at +14.6% in the recent 4-weeks (+9.6% for 12 weeks) driven by +14.6% growth in equivalent units, partially offset by -0.1% decline in equivalent unit pricing. Monster sold 28.9% of volume on promo this period, a -2.5% decline from last period, when 31.4% was sold on promo.
“We are encouraged by Monster’s solid results, particularly given the decline in promos this period,” Herzog said. “Further, we note that Coca-Cola’s energy portfolio, which Monster will absorb, was up a solid +28.0% this period, as well.”
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.