Seven of eight packaged-beverage subcategories enjoyed positive year-over-year unit growth in 2015, while five out of eight had double-digit sales increases. Warm weather definitely played a role in these numbers.
Carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) also met a true challenger in the largest subcategory from alternative or energy drinks. According to Nielsen, c-store sales of alternative beverages rose more than 10% in 2015, compared to a 2.1% increase for CSDs. Five years ago, alternative beverages generated 51% the sales of CSDs; this figure has since risen to 82%.
“At this growth rate, alternative could overtake it as the No.1 sales contributor to packaged beverage in the next three years,” said Andy Jones, president and CEO of Sprint Food Stores, Augusta, Ga.
Bottled water, sports drinks, ready-to-drink iced tea and other packaged beverages also posted strong c-store sales increases in 2015, helping push total monthly packaged-beverage sales up 7.5%, according to NACS SOI figures. Gross-profit dollars rose a healthy 8.4%.
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