NEW YORK -- Grab-and-go basics saw healthy growth in convenience stores for the month of September, according to a review of Nielsen scan data by Morgan Stanley Research analysts. Major product categories energy drinks, carbonated soft drinks, beer and salty snacks all saw between 2.5% and 16.3% growth for the four weeks ending Sept. 29.
According to a Morgan Stanley report, the biggest takeaways were:
- Monster sales growth slowed on a one/two-year basis (not just tough comps).
- PepsiCo sales growth was robust in snacks and CSDs but driven by lower pricing than peers.
- Strong Crown Imports beer results continued.
- Boston Beer results accelerated with strength in seasonal brands.
In a category breakdown, Morgan Stanley offered the following analyses:
Energy Drinks
Energy-drink category sales were up 16.3% with a two-year average of 13.9%, which was slightly below a 16.0% two-year average in the prior 12 weeks.
Monster sales were up 17.8%, decelerating slightly from 18.9% growth in the prior 12 weeks, with two-year-average sales growth of 20.6%, also slowing modestly vs. a 22.2% two-year average in the prior 12 weeks and 24.7% last period.
CSDs
In CSDs, PepsiCo gained market share on weaker pricing. CSD category sales were up 2.5% (1.7% two-year average) on 1.9% volume and 0.6% price/mix. Category pricing slowed from 1.7% in the prior 12 weeks.
PepsiCo sales were up 4.4% with 7.2% volume and -2.6% price/mix. Coca-Cola Co. dollar share declined on 1.7% sales growth (-1.4% volume, +3.1% price/mix). Dr Pepper Snapple Group sales were up 1.1% year over year, with 0.3% volume and 0.8% price/mix.
Beer
Molson Coors Brewing Co.’s 2.9% sales growth decelerated modestly and was below the 3.8% growth at Anheuser-Busch InBev. Crown Imports continue to gain share with sales growth accelerating to 16.1% (vs. 12.8% in the prior 12 weeks). Boston Beer posted strong 18.3% sales growth on seasonal strength.
Beer category sales increased 5.1% (1.1% volume and 4.4% price/mix) with a two-year average of 1.8%.
Salty Snacks
Salty-snack category sales were strong at 7.2% (two-year average 8.3% vs. 8.9% in the prior 12 weeks) on 6.9% volume and 0.3% price/mix. PepsiCo sales were up 6.9% (8.1% two-year average) on 9.5% volume with -2.4% price/mix lagging the category at 0.3%.
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