In the weeks leading up to Election Day, maybe it’s fair to say that consumers were feeling, let’s say, hesitant? That’s kind of the vibe we’re getting from the latest set of NielsenIQ sales numbers (courtesy of Goldman Sachs Equity Research), which saw total non-alcoholic beverage sales growth slow slightly on the back of falling volumes and despite accelerating pricing growth.
Total non-alcoholic beverage in the two-week period ending Nov. 2:
- Sales growth: +5.1% (+5.6%/+3.8% for 4-weeks/12-weeks)
- Volume growth: +2.2% (+3.6%/+2.6%)
- Pricing growth: +2.9% (+1.9%/+1.2%)
Here are a few highlights from deep in the weeds:
Things are looking stable in energy drinks, where sales, volume and pricing growth were all broadly in line sequentially. In the two-week period, Monster pushed volume growth back to positive while also moving pricing ahead 2.6% (compared to 1.7% in the four-week period); elsewhere, Celsius continued a downward trend in sequential sales growth, rising 4.6% (+5.3%/+5.9% for the 4-week/12-week periods) with volume up 7.4% (+10.9% in the 12-weeks).
Alani Nu continues to pick up speed, with sales up 43% in the 2-week period (+40.6%/+54.8% in the 4-weeks/12-weeks); volume growth hit 41.4% (+39.7%/+58.2%) against mostly flat pricing at 1.1% in the two weeks.
Sparkling water seems to have found a… spark? Dollar sales have stabilized (+10.4%/+10.9% for the 2-week/4-week), as have volume (+7.2%/+7.2%) and pricing (+3%/+3.4%). That’s reflected in individual brands’ performances as well: all reported a slight sales slowdown, though Coca-Cola (+28.8%/+31.5%), Spindrift (+28.1%/+32.6%) and Waterloo (+25.4%/+26.6%) remain high above the rest.
Could a changing of the guard be coming in sports drinks? It feels that way when tracking the opposing trajectories of PRIME and Electrolit. The former is reeling: sales (-49.8%/-50.4% in the 2-weeks/4-weeks) and volume (-43.7%/-44.7%) remain mired in a severe slump despite a double-digit drop in pricing growth. The latter – which announced plans this week to open a manufacturing center in Texas – is stable at 35.8% sales growth in the two-weeks (+35.9% in the four-weeks), though volume dipped slightly against a 2.2% increase in pricing growth.