NEW YORK -- Carbonated soft drinks, energy drinks and beer all saw decent dollar sales growth in convenience stores during September, according to scan data. A breakdown:
CSD Sales Up Again
CSD sales in convenience stores were up 1.6% in terms of dollars during the 4-week period ending Sept. 27, 2014, a second month of growth after a long period of decline, according to a Wells Fargo Sercurities report citing Nielsen data.
- Coca-Cola CSD brands led the growth with dollar sales up "up a strong 4.3% (and +4.9% for 12 weeks) as a result of 0.9% declines in equivalent unit volume and solid 5.3% increase in average equivalent price," according to the report. Coca-Cola was also able to gain both value/volume share relative to its peers, the report states, attributing the success to the Share a Coke campaign, and "best-in-class price/pack architecture."
- PepsiCo CSD dollar sales were up 0.9% during the month (+0.3% for 12 weeks) with 3.0% equivalent unit volume declines and 3.3% average equivalent price growth.
- Dr Pepper Snapple Group CSD dollar sales were generally flat, up 0.1%--a welcome reversal of recent declines--during the period (-0.5% for 12 weeks) as a result of average equivalent price increases of 4.3% offset by equivalent unit volume declines of 4.0%. DPS lost both value/volume shares this period.
"Bottom line," the report summarized, "Coca-Cola continues to lead the category and outperform its peers in the key c-store channel, and we remain encouraged by its results heading into Q3 earnings."
Energy Drinks Accelerate
Meanwhile, energy-drink dollar sales remained in single-digit growth territory, up 6.4% driven by solid sequential improvements for Monster and offset by double-digit declines for Rockstar.
- Monster generated 7.1% dollar sales growth (+5.9% for 12 weeks), driven by overall 6.8% equivalent unit volume gains and 0.2% average equivalent pricing growth. This represents a solid sequential improvement for Monster, an encouraging sign for its recently launched products.
- Red Bull had modest 5.6% dollar sales growth this period driven by 5.8% equivalent unit volume gains and -0.3% average equivalent pricing.
- Rockstar had sharp 13.4% sales declines, while Coca-Cola's energy offerings remain strong, with 33.4% dollar sales growth.
Beer Category Improves
Beer dollar sales in the U.S. c-store channel were up 2.0% (+1.8% for 12 weeks).
- AB InBev dollar sales were down 1.1% (-1.3% for 12 weeks) as a result of an average-equivalent price increase of 2.0% and 3.1% equivalent unit volume declines.
- MillerCoors dollar sales were up 1.2% (flat for 12 weeks) with average pricing growth of 2.4% and average equivalent volume declines of 1.2%.
- Constellation (Corona, Modelo) continued its strong sales growth trends of +16.4% (+18.2% for 12 weeks), Heineken dollar sales were up 7.3%, while Boston Beer had dollar sales up 22.7%.
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