Nielsen: Monster Sales Decelerate Over Labor Day Weekend

Monster Beverage Corp. saw dollar sales growth decelerate in the two week period ending September 19, up 4.9% year over year compared to stronger 6.6% growth in the 4-week period and a 7% increase in the 12-weeks, according to an analysis of Nielsen data by Goldman Sachs Equity Research.

Despite the slowing dollar sales, volume growth was “still solid” according to the report, up 6.1% in the two-week period compared to 7.8% for the four-weeks, driven primarily by the brand’s Java Monster and Monster Zero Ultra lines. Overall, Monster dollar sales increased 4.8% for the 52-week period to $5.5 billion while volume sales were up 4.5% in the same timeframe.

“This moderation in growth was admittedly a bit disappointing, especially as the most recent two-week period largely captured the Labor Day holiday weekend,” the report stated.

Within the Monster portfolio, Java Monster was the biggest riser, up 12% in the two-week period, followed by Monster Ultra Sunrise (up 7.2%) and Monster Zero Ultra (up 5.4% and the brand’s second largest SKU). Monster’s flagship line was down 0.2% in the period while Hydro saw the largest decline, decreasing 40.4%.

Reign, the company’s fitness energy line which launched last year as a competitor to Bang, grew 2.7% to $368.5 million and was up 122.9% for the 52-week period.

The brand’s growth dragged behind the overall energy drink category, up 8.5% in the two-week period and 7.3% for the 52-week period. Much of the category’s performance has been driven by strong Red Bull sales, which has consistently posted double digit sales rises this year, up 17.1% for two-weeks and 10.4% to $4.8 billion in the 52-week frame. Bang, now the third largest brand in the energy space, continued its downward trend with dollar sales decreasing 2.9% to $1.09 billion in the two-week period, though growth remained up 13.4% in the 52-weeks.

Elsewhere, PepsiCo (which owns Rockstar) saw dollar sales fall 12.1% in the two-week period, with the company now reporting an 8.6% slide for the 52-weeks. Fitness energy brand Celsius, however, saw “very strong” spikes, with sales improving 66.2% for the four-week period, which does not include non-tracked channels such as fitness and ecommerce where the brand does considerable business.

“We expect growth across the energy category to remain strong — consistent with upbeat commentary from our c-store retailer contacts in our recent survey that points to a robust category outlook for the balance of the year,” the report stated.

As well, the report suggested a potential Monster hard seltzer product launch, which the company has hinted at in recent months, would be a positive introduction to the company’s portfolio as sales would be “100% incremental” to the core energy drink line.