Sales Up for Energy Drinks, Bottled Water and Sports Drinks
By Steve Holtz on Jan. 17, 2018NEW YORK -- While the last month of 2017 was kind to sales of energy drinks, bottled water and sports drinks, even Christmas couldn't boost beer trends. Those are top-line conclusions from Nielsen scan data from all retail channels for the four-week period ending Dec. 30.
Here's a look at how the major categories fared during the month ...
Energy drinks
Energy drinks found their way back to mid-single-digit growth during the month, according to a Wells Fargo Securities report. That sales growth during December was led by Monster Beverage Corp., which saw volume sales up 11.2%, according to Nielsen. Red Bull sales were up 3.7% during the period. The full category grew 2.2% during 2017, about half of the previous year's 4.3% sales growth and well below 2015's 10.5% growth.
Beer
Total retail beer volume sales were down 1.6%, about on par with a 12-week trend of negative 2.0% and a 52-week trend of negative 0.9%. The bright spot in the beer category remains imported beer, up 3.1% in volume during the four-week period and 5.4% for the full year, led by Constellation Brands, Chicago, which grew volume sales 11.1% for the year.
Regular (full-calorie) beer saw unit sales dip 1.2% during December, compared to a 2.4% sales decline for light beer. Sales of all domestic beers were down 2.7%, craft beer was flat and cider sales dropped 3.2%.
Bottled water
Bottled water had a strong month, with total volume sales up 7.6% for the four-week period, compared to 5.4% for the full year. Sparkling flavored water saw the strongest growth, up 19.7% for the month, and still flavored water performed well, too, up 11.0% for the four-week period.
Carbonated soft drinks
Carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) continued to decline, though at a slightly slower rate. During December, unit sales dipped 2.3%, compared to negative 3.2% for the past 12 weeks and negative 3.0% for the full year. Sales of regular soft drinks were down 2.0%, while diet sodas were down 3.2%.
Other
In other beverage categories:
- Ready-to-drink coffee maintained strong growth, with unit sales up 8.0% during December, following on 7.6% growth over the past 12 weeks and 9.8% for the full year.
- Sports-drink volume sales saw a nice turnaround through the year, up 5.0% during December, compared to 2.5% growth over the past 12 weeks and a decline of 3.6% for the full year.
- Shelf-stable juices continued to lag, down 2.7% in volume for the month, 2.2% for 12 weeks and 3.8% for the year.
- Ready-to-drink iced tea unit sales were generally flat, up 1.1% for the month, up 0.7% for 12 weeks and down 0.7% for the year.