Beer Marketer's Insights - Craft Driving Non-Alc Beer Growth; Up 65% YTD in NIQ Foodstores with 42 Share of NAs

Craft brands are driving ~70% of NA beer growth and pulling away as #1 NA subsegment this yr in foodstores. While total NA beer grew 32% to nearly $272 mil YTD thru Sep 7 in NIQ foodstores, craft NAs jumped 65% to $115 mil. So craft NAs gained 8.6 share of segment to 42.4. They're over $38 mil in sales and 14 share pts ahead of next biggest NA subsegment, imports, which grew 25% to nearly $77 mil. With craft and imports collectively at 70 share of NAs, the category morphed into a high-end beer segment in relatively short order. Domestic premium (+2%) and below premium (-9%) slipped to just 22 share of NA beer $$ collectively in foodstores. All in, NA beer gained 0.7 pts to 2.8 share of total beer $$ in foodstores YTD. NAs & Craft NAs Maintained Growth Pace for 13 Wks Total beer $$ softened to -1.5% in NIQ foodstores for latest 13 wks vs -0.8% YTD thru Sep 7. Yet NA beer barely skipped a beat, maintaining 31% growth for 13 wks. Craft NAs grew 64% and rose to nearly 44 share of NA beer $$. Excluding NAs, beer/FMB/seltzer/cider $$ slipped 2.2% for 13 wks vs -1.5% for the year.Vast Majority of Top-25 Cos & Fams Growing; Athletic at 23 Share for Last 13 Wks Vast majority of top NA cos and brands are growing in foodstores this yr, including 23 of top-25 cos and 19 of top-25 brand fams both YTD and for last 13 wks thru Sep 7. And there's plenty of growth underneath those top players too. But no co's growing as much as Athletic. For last 13 wks, Athletic sales rose 54.5%, snagging 3.5 share to just under 23 of total NA beer in foodstores. It's pulling away as #1 brand family, over 8 share pts ahead of next largest, Heineken 0.0, even as that brand maintained 17% growth for 13 wks. It's still #2 NA company, but just 1.3 share pts behind AB for #1 spot in NIQ foodstores for latest 13 wks. (Editor's note: AB NAs are further ahead in c-stores. And co's introing Mich Ultra Zero, an alcohol-free beer with 29 calories and 6.5 carbs, in Jan.)Blue Moon, Sierra, White Claw, Best Day, Deschutes Nearly 10 Share for 13 Wks Notable new entrants and broader rollouts of certain brands are taking significant share of segment this yr too. Blue Moon NA grabbed 3 share of NA $$ for 13 wks, becoming #9 brand family, fueling MC NA portfolio to #5 overall behind AB, Athletic, Heineken (including Lagunitas), and Constellation (including Hop WTR). Blue Moon rapidly became MC's lead NA brand by far as Coors NA slipped 42% and Peroni NA grew 55% but remains just 1/3 the size. Sierra Nevada NAs grew 366% for 13 wks, almost entirely fueled by new Trail Pass NA beers while Hop Splash hop waters take a back seat this yr. Co gained 2.1 share of NA $$ to 2.9, making it #7 NA supplier overall, flying past Diageo even as Guinness 0 maintained strong double-digit growth. Then too, White Claw 0% got 1.4 share, making it a top-15 NA brand family for 13 wks in NIQ foodstores. Slightly behind Hop WTR, which gained 0.2 pts to 1.8 share. Best Day Brewing (+184%) and Deschutes NAs (+557%) each snagged additional 0.7-0.8 share of segment, rising over 1 share of NA $$ for 13 wks. Collectively, Blue Moon, Sierra, White Claw, Best Day and Deschutes gained 8 share of segment to 9.6 for period.Widespread Growth, Category Legs? With big gains from Athletic and so much incremental growth from newer players, NA share is shifting considerably this yr. Yet most NA brands and cos continue to grow sales. Heineken (+17%), Bud (+16%), Busch (+14%) and Sam Adams (+28%) each still up solid double-digits for 13 wks even as they're losing share of segment. Corona (+45%), Stella (+33%), Guinness (+46.5%) and Peroni (+55%) are still gaining ground, while Labatt NAs shed share but still grew 10%. Smaller craft NAs like BrewDog (+12%), Hoplark (+14%), and Partake (+38%) maintained varying degrees of double-digit gains for 13 wks. Fremont (+79%) and 2 Towns Cider (incremental) are gaining share. Royal Unibrew, Vander Mill winery, and Rationale are all growing double-digits. Brooklyn brand family is down 11% in scans but the company's NA portfolio is still up 4% including minority investment in Hoplark. Clausthaler and Pabst were the only other top cos that declined. And all other cos beneath the top-25 collectively grew 40% for 13 wks, gaining 0.2 share of NAs to 3 total. Does widespread growth suggest NA beer still has room to run? How high can NAs climb in US foodstores?

Craft Driving Non-Alc Beer Growth; Up 65% YTD in NIQ Foodstores with 42 Share of NAs

Publishing Info