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Alc bevs are the 3d largest category in the convenience channel, near 19 share, and beer/FMB/cider is the vast majority of that, NielsenIQ team presented at NACS last wk and shared with INSIGHTS today. Take out cider and beer/malt bevs dipped about 1.3% to $25.9 bil in sales for 52 wks to Sep 6 in NIQ-tracked c-stores. It's by far biggest bev segment, tho, close to 2x the $13.6 bil in energy drink sales in the channel. But energy drinks growing solidly, +7.2%. Soft drinks ticked up less than 1% to just below $10 bil, while sports drinks dipped 1.6% to $4.1 bil, NIQ deck shows. Spirits rounds out the top 5 drinks categories in c-stores, +7.9% to $3.6 bil for 52 wks. Wine lands below a pair of water segments at $1.8 bil, but up double digits, 11.2% (likely driven by likes of BuzzBallz, BeatBox and beyond). C-Stores Only Channel with Bev Alc Growth for 52 Wks Just 2 major categories outsell alc bevs in c-stores, according to NIQ deck. Tobacco & alternatives is #1 followed by "center store grocery" (mostly bevs & snacks), each 35-40 share of c-store $$. And traditional tobacco is clear winner at around 2x beer/FMB/cider sales. Within alc bevs, "moderation," "premiumization" and "economic pressures" drive trends lately, NIQ summarized. Total alc bevs up 0.3% in c-stores for 52 wks to Sep 6, outperforming every other type of off-premise retail. Both grocery and liquor open state channels saw alc bev $$ dip 2.2% over same period, while the category is down 4% in all other retailers, including mass merch, dollar and club.Chains Gained Ground in Pandemic Aftermath to Over Half of C-Store Outlets At end of 2024, US was home to around 152K c-stores, NIQ TDLinx database shows, down from a 2015 peak but up almost 12K since 2005. In last few yrs, chains took over after close to 7K indie c-store closings in 2020-2021. By end of last yr, around 53% of US c-stores were chains. C-store footprints also grew in last 15 yrs or so, avg square footage up 11% since 2009.Crossover Brands Off 11%, Less than 1 Share of Alc Bevs Not many datapoints about this yr's hot topic, hemp bevs, aside from quick stat showing that THC bevs were up by almost 6x for 52 wks thru May 10, tho lots changed since then in fast-moving category. Instead, NIQ did deep dive into crossover brands like Topo Chico and Simply Spiked, Jumex Hard Nectar, Cantaritos by Jarritos and Jack & Coke RTDs. In all, crossover brands declined 10.7% for 52 wks to Sep 6, now less than 1 share of total alc bevs, NIQ showed.Total of 248 UPCs hit $336 mil in the yr prior, biggest yr so far for crossover brands. Now some 276 UPCs across 24 brand fams ain't matching prior yr sales. Still, some of 'em remain sizable with 9 brand fams among the top 50 RTDs and 12 in the top 100. NIQ survey data suggests that 21-24 yr olds, millennials and Hispanic consumers are most likely to be interested in crossover brands. At NACS, analysts proposed that "the next wave of Crossover Brands will thrive by reimagining nostalgic icons for Gen X and Millennials."

Beer and Malt Bevs Near 2x Energy Drinks in C-Stores But Losing Ground: NIQ at NACS

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