Skip to main content

BEVCOMMUNITY

Connect with the local beverage industry. Trade news, trends and insights.

Retail Alcohol Sales Rose Upon Coronavirus Fears

By April 7, 2020Top News

Nielsen reported the weekend ending March 14 that off-premise alcohol grew as stocking up became the norm. U.S. off-premise sales for wine that week were up +27.6%, spirits +26.4% and beer/flavored malt beverages/cider +14% compared to the same week one year ago. The growth rates paint a different picture than where the categories were in the weeks prior to the pandemic. Large pack sizes 3L boxed wines were +53% and 24-packs of beer were up +24% with consumers. Danelle Kosmal, Vice President of Beverage Alcohol at Nielsen, wrote, “While [beverage alcohol] categories are all experiencing double digit growth, they lag growth rates for total consumer goods. For the week ending March 14, when many consumers were stocking up on perishables, cleaning products and toilet paper, total consumer goods grew by 40% in all Nielsen U.S. outlet channels.” Alcoholic beverage sales increased again during the week ending March 21 at an even faster pace than the previous week, with huge double-digit increases. The magnitude of the year-over-year increase was largest for spirits (+75%), followed by wine (+66%) and beer/FMB/cider (+42%). Sales of beer, excluding FMB/ciders, were up 34%.

 

 

 

« | »