Twenty-one percent of retailers who responded to Goldman Sachs’ Beverage Bytes Retailer Shelf Space Survey said they planned to increase space in 2024 for total beverages in their convenience stores.
“In general, I do think that this category still is quite healthy and probably taking away from some of the other categories that might not be growing as fast,” Bonnie Herzog, managing director and senior consumer analyst at New York-based Goldman Sachs, said Wednesday at CSP’sCold Vault Forum in Schaumburg, Illinois.
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That extra space is mostly being allocated to energy drinks. Herzog said 57% of retailers said they were adding more space for the energy drink segment.
“[Ready-to-drink] teas, total beer and juice seem to be the categories that are losing space,” she said.
Within energy, Boca Raton, Florida-based Celsius is the big spring shelf/cooler space winner, while Red Bull, Santa Monica, California, is expected to lose the most shelf space, she said. Celsius is expected to gain about 11% of space in the channel, while Red Bull is expected to lose about 3%, those surveyed in April said.
Smaller energy drink brands, like C4, Ghost and Alani Nu, are also taking more space as well, Herzog said. The total energy segment is expected to grow about 7% in 2024, according to retailers surveyed.
In alcohol, retailers only expect to increase space by 0.2%.
“So really not, in total, much change for alcohol,” Herzog said. “But within the alcohol space [there is] a lot of movement because of what happened with Bud Light.”
Bud Light maker Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, Missouri, faced boycotts after an Instagram post in April 2023 from Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer, with a customized Bud Light can to promote a contest.
Victor, New York-based Constellation Brands and Chicago-based Molson Coors are expected to gain space in beer, at 7% and 3%, respectively, Herzog said, while Anheuser-Busch is expected to lose about 1% of shelf space.
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