NEW YORK -- The energy-drink category has found itself in a bit of an awkward spot. Even as it continues to deliver some of the highest volume growth in the cold vault—recently about 5%—that number pales in comparison to the double-digit increases the category has racked up in the past decade.
"Monster results remain weak on particularly soft volumes," analyst Bonnie Herzog of Wells Fargo Securities said in a recent research note.
Energy Drinks
According to Nielsen data from all channels of retail for the four-week period ending Oct. 31, Monster Energy sales "remained weak with only 5.7%" dollar-sales growth (and +7.3% for the previous 12 weeks), "driven by very soft 2.2% equivalent unit-volume growth and 3.4% average equivalent pricing growth."
Both Red Bull and Rockstar have fared better. Red Bull saw 10.1% dollar-sales growth during the four-week period (+10.0% for 12 weeks) driven by 5.0% equivalent unit volume gains and 4.9% average equivalent pricing, while Rockstar continues to break away from the also-ran pack.
"Rockstar continued its strong sequential improvements in its results, generating an impressive 29.9% growth in dollar sales this period," Herzog said, "and gaining a solid 2.0 equivalent volume share points, which we believe was largely sourced from Monster, which lost 2.1 share points."
The energy category as a whole had solid dollar sales growth of 9.6%.
While considered "weak" for the energy-drink category, other stalwart beverage categories would love to see the same single-digit growth.
Carbonated Soft Drinks
Carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) saw dollar sales in all channels dip 0.2% (+0.1% for prior 12 weeks) during the four-week period, driven by solid average equivalent price growth of 3.3% and weak equivalent unit-volume declines of 3.4%, according to Herzog.
For a second month in a row, Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPSG) led growth in CSDs with dollar sales up 2.2% (+2.5% for 12 weeks) as a result of average equivalent price increases up 2.2% and equivalent unit-volume declines of only 0.1%. DPSG gained 70 basis points of unit share this period.
Coca-Cola's CSD sales, meanwhile, were up 0.2% (+0.2% for 12 weeks) as a result of 3.0% average equivalent price increases and equivalent unit-volume declines of 2.7%. Brand Coke, which represents 43% of Coca-Cola's CSD sales, had negative sales growth (-0.3%) for the third time in four months. And PepsiCo's CSD dollar sales were down 2.1% during the month (-1.7% for 12 weeks) with 6.0% equivalent unit-volume declines and 4.1% average equivalent price growth.
Beer
While beer sales were healthy during the four-week period, domestic beers continued to struggle.
Overall beer dollar sales were up 3.5% (+4.3% for 12 weeks), driven by equivalent unit growth of 0.5% and pricing growth of 3.0%. AB InBev dollar sales were flat (-0.1% and +0.6% for 12 weeks) as a result of average equivalent price increase of 1.5% and 1.7% equivalent unit volume declines. MillerCoors dollar sales were down 1.1% (-0.4% for 12 weeks) with average pricing growth of 1.1% and 2.2% equivalent volume declines. Constellation Brands, representing import beers, was the winner for the month with 20.5% sales growth (+20.8% for 12 weeks). Boston Beer, representing the craft-beer subcategory, saw 6.1% sales growth, while Heineken sales were up 2.3%.
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