NEW YORK -- Most major beverage categories had something to cheer about during the month of February, but bottled water came away as the big winner, according to Nielsen all-channel data.
Water
Bottled water posted double-digit volume growth during the four-week period ending Feb. 27, 2016, up 10.8% in all channels (and up 9.0% for the past 12 weeks), while dollar sales grew 9.6%, according to a Cowen and Co. equity-research report by analyst Vivien Azer. Winning brands in the category were Poland Springs, which saw dollar-sales increase 0.5 points; smartwater, up 0.4; and Propel and Aquafina, both up 0.3. Brands losing sales compared to the previous period included Nestle Pure Life (down 0.6 points), vitaminwater (dow 0.4), and Arrowhead and SoBe (both down 0.3).
Sports
Sports drinks also experienced healthy growth during the month, up 7.0% in dollar sales and 8.2% in volume sales, driven primarily by Gatorade, which saw volume sales up 10.4% for the month. This is a robust increase following 12-week trends of 4.4% dollar sales growth and 4.8% volume growth.
Energy
Energy drinks earned third position for overall growth, although analysts found the 6.5% increase in dollar sales and 5.6% in volume sales to be "soft."
The 6.5% growth "was below the 8.4% growth seen over the last 12-week period," Azer said.
"The energy category generated relatively soft dollars sales growth," said Wells Fargo Securities analyst Bonnie Herzog in a research report, "driven by particularly weak Red Bull results, with dollar sales growth up only 2.4% this period."
Monster dollar sales grew 8.3% with a volume increase of 4.0%, while Rockstar grew 11.6% in dollar sales and 12.7% in volume. CSD/energy-drink hybrid Mtn Dew Kickstart was up an impressive 20.5% in dollar sales.
CSDs
Dollar sales growth of carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) was light but on the plus side. The subcategory saw dollar sales up 0.5% during the month, an improvement over a decline of 0.4% in the 12-week period. Volume sales were down 0.4% for the month and down 2.3% for the 12-week period.
The growth was on the "regular" CSD side, which grew 1.4% in volume sales, largely on the back of flavored drinks, including Fanta and Mtn Dew Kickstart, both of which grew 0.2 points, and Dr Pepper Snapple Group drinks Canda Dry, Dr Pepper, A&W and Schweppes, all of which grew 0.1 points. Diet CSDs, meanwhile, continued their steady decline, down 4.2% in dollar sales 5.1% in volume sales for the month, a slight improvement over the 12-week declines of 5.3% and 7.0%, respectively.
Other subcategory trends include ready-to-drink teas up 8.1% in dollar sales and 5.4% in volume, and juice/juice drinks down 1.2% in dollar sales and 1.6% in volume.
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.