At-home consumption trends sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic appeared to continue in May even as parts of the country began to loosen restrictions, according to a Goldman Sachs Equity Research report on Nielsen sales data.
All-channel sales for non-alcoholic beverages increased 7% over the four-week period ended on May 30, and are up 5% from the same period last year. Over the two week period, which included Memorial Day, sales grew 6.5%.
The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo and Keurig Dr Pepper all reported positive sales trends. Pepsi saw total sales rise 7.3% for the four week period, driven in large part by salty snacks, while Coke’s overall sales increased 10.6% over the period (9.1% over the two weeks). Meanwhile, KDP’s sales grew 14.6% over the two weeks.
Carbonated soft drinks continued to post sales gains, reaching 14.9% over the four week period before dipping to 12.7% over the two weeks. KDP outpaced Coke (14.3%) and Pepsi (12.4%) with a 20.2% jump in dollar sales over the four weeks, against a price increase of 3.9%. The company saw volume increase 13.4% over the two weeks, during which Coke and Pepsi decelerated to around 8% growth each.
In energy drinks, both sales (5.7%) and volume (18%) accelerated over the two week period. Monster grew sales 3.4% over the two weeks, with volume up 18% during that time, yet Red Bull remained the category pacesetter, rising 14%. Bang continued to struggle, falling 15.3% in the two weeks and 16.1% in the four weeks, while Pepsi, which now includes Rockstar, was down 7.8% over the two weeks.
Bottled water managed to arrest its decline, as sales contracted 7.6% over the two weeks after falling 8.5% in the four weeks; the category is still up 3.4% for the year. Category volume (7.4%) and price (1.3%) both fell over the four weeks and rebounded slightly in the two weeks, with Nestle Holdings seeing the steepest declines.
In sparkling flavored water, the data was encouraging: the category has seen dollar sales increase 14.2% year-over-year, and 21.6% in just the two week period. Coca-Cola posted 107% sales growth in the four weeks, while Spindrift (up 92.6% year-over-year), Pepsi, Polar, Talking Rain and National Beverage Corp. (down 5.4% year-over-year) all posted double-digit gains in volume and sales.
Elsewhere, sales of ready-to-drink coffee accelerated, growing 16.5% over the two weeks after increasing 14.5% in the four weeks. The category is up 5.5% year-over-year. Ready-to-drink tea, meanwhile, posted a 5.4% increase in the last four weeks.