NEW YORK -- Energy drinks and beer continued to lead the major packaged-beverage categories for growth during the month of December, according to a new Wells Fargo Securities report. Winning companies include Monster Beverage, Rockstar and Constellation Brands and, to a lesser extent, Dr Pepper Snapple Group based on all-channel dollar sales (including grocery, drug, mass merchandisers and convenience stores) during the four-week period ending Dec. 26 as measured by Nielsen.
For each major manufacturer:
- Coca-Cola Co.'s total beverage dollar sales were up +1.9% last month (and +2.2% for the past 12 weeks and +2.5% for 52 weeks) driven by solid performance in bottled water and teas offset by softness in carbonated soft drinks (CSDs), juices and a slowdown in sports drinks.
- PepsiCo's total beverage and snack dollar sales were up +2.1% last month (and +2.2% for 12 weeks; +2.1% for 52 weeks) as solid performance in several non-carb categories, including sports drinks and water, offset declines in CSDs and teas.
- Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPSG) saw total beverage dollar sales up +2.0% last month (+3.0% for 12 weeks; +2.4% for 52 weeks), a sequential decline from mid-single digit performance the last several months, driven by slightly positive sales in CSDs and strong results in juices and teas.
- Monster Beverages' dollar sales improved slightly, up +8.9% during the period (+7.5% for 12 weeks; +9.5% for 52 weeks).
In a category breakdowns:
Carbonated Soft Drinks
Total CSD dollar sales in all channels were down -0.2% (-0.2% for 12 weeks; +0.3% for 52 weeks) during the four-week period, driven by modest average equivalent price growth of +2.3%, offset by equivalent unit volume declines of -2.4%.
Coca-Cola's CSD dollar sales were up +0.1% (+0.0% for 12 weeks) as a result of a much softer +0.8% average equivalent price increase and equivalent unit volume declines of -0.7%. Brand Coke (43% of the company's CSD sales) matched its highest sales growth in the last six months (+0.9%).
PepsiCo's CSD dollar sales were down -1.9% during the month (-1.9% for 12 weeks) with -4.5% equivalent unit volume declines and +2.8% average equivalent price growth.
DPSG's CSD dollar sales pulled back sequentially, up +0.7% (+1.6% for 12 weeks) as a result of average equivalent price increases of +2.6% and equivalent unit volume declines of -1.8%.
Energy Drinks
The energy category had solid dollar sales growth of +10.1% (consistent with +10.1% growth for the past 12 weeks and +10.5% for 52 weeks), driven by strong results from Rockstar (+20.9%) and PepsiCo's Kickstart (+40.5%).
Red Bull saw +8.7% dollar sales growth this period (+9.8% for 12 weeks) driven by relatively soft +4.8% equivalent unit volume gains and +3.7% average equivalent pricing.
Monster sales improved slightly to +8.9% dollar sales growth (+7.5% for 12 weeks), driven by improved +5.6% equivalent unit volume growth and +3.1% average equivalent pricing growth. This is the first period in four months that Monster outpaced Red Bull; however, Monster still lost -1.0 point in equivalent unit share.
Beer
Beer dollar sales in the four-week period were up +3.7% (+4.3% for 12 weeks; +3.7% for 52 weeks) driven by equivalent unit growth of +0.5% and pricing growth of +3.1%.
Anheuser-Busch dollar sales were up +1.1% (+1.2% for 12 weeks) as a result of average equivalent price increase of +1.8% and -0.7% equivalent unit volume growth.
MillerCoors dollar sales were down -0.3% (-0.2% for 12 weeks) with average pricing up +1.5% and -1.8% equivalent volume declines.
Constellation saw +17.6% sales growth (+20.1% for 12 weeks), Boston Beer +1.7% sales growth, and Heineken USA sales were down -1.0%.
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