NielsenIQ: Easter Holiday Accelerates Non-Alc Beverage Sales

The Easter holiday gave non-alcoholic beverage sales a boost during the two-week period ending April 23, according to an analysis of NielsenIQ data by Goldman Sachs Equity Research.

Beverage dollar sales rose 11.4% in the two-weeks, accelerating from 8.2% growth for the four-week period and 11.3% for the 52-weeks. The dollar sales bump was accompanied by a turnaround in volumes, which rose 1.4% in the two-weeks, compared to a -1.7% decline for the four-week period, with CSDs and energy drinks seeing some of the strongest volume increases. However, some categories like coffee and sparkling water saw sales decelerate. On a two-year stack basis, total non-alc dollar sales were up 31.4% in the two-weeks, reflecting the volatile early pandemic period in Spring 2020.

Looking at major brands, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) and Monster Energy Co. all reported accelerated sales growth with improved volume performance.

Sodas & CSDs

Total soda dollar sales increased 17.5% in the two week period, accelerating from +11.4% in the four-weeks. Strong volume growth of +7.6% (compared to a -1.1% decline in the four-week period) contributed to the performance, while average pricing growth decelerated to +9.2% (versus +12.7% in the four-weeks).

Coke led sales growth in the category, up 23.7% with volume increasing by 13.3%, followed by KDP (16.5% for sales, +8.1% for volume) in the two-week period. PepsiCo, meanwhile, was up 10.4% for sales, and volume accelerated a modest 1.1% (improving from a -5.7% decline for the four-weeks).

Energy Drinks

Energy drink sales accelerated on a one-year stack basis (+8.7% in the two-week period, +7.2% for four-weeks) but decelerated on a two-year stack basis (+36.3% for two-weeks vs. +40.6% for four-weeks). On a one-year basis, volume sales increased 3.9% for the two weeks and average pricing jumped 4.6%.

Monster sales rose 8.2% and volume was up 3.7% for the two-weeks. Red Bull dollar sales were up 4.6% accompanied by a 3.4% volume increase. However, Bang (-11.1%) and PepsiCo (-10.9%) both faced dollar sales declines and even steeper volume declines ( -13% and -17.1%, respectively, for the two companies in the two-week period). Meanwhile, emerging fitness energy brand CELSIUS’s triple-digit growth streak continued but decelerated, reporting +198.9% sales growth (versus +207.3% for four-weeks), and Nutrabolt’s C4 was up 159.1% in the two-weeks (+161.3% for four-weeks).

Bottled Water

The bottled water category posted accelerated sales growth, up 14.1% in the two-week period compared to +11.4% growth for the four-weeks. Volume rose 0.9% (versus +0.1% in four-weeks) and average pricing increased 13.1% (+11.3% for four-weeks).

Private label dollar sales were up 24.5% in the two-weeks. Blue Triton Brands reported +14.1% growth and KDP was up 16.4%. Coke (+1.2%) and Danone North America (+1%) reported more modest sales increases, and PepsiCo was up by 9.9%.

Sports Drinks

Sports drinks dollar sales accelerated slightly in the two-week period, up 4.2% versus +3.7% growth in the four-weeks, but saw significant slowdown from the 52-week period growth of +16.4%. The category faced double-digit volume declines, down 13.5%, which were offset by steep +20.6% average pricing.

PepsiCo (Gatorade) sales rose just 2.5% in the period, while Coke (BodyArmor and Powerade) saw a -0.4% slide.

Tea

Ready-to-drink tea sales accelerated in the two-weeks, up 4.4% (+1.2% for four-weeks), with a -2.3% volume drop offset by +6.8% average pricing raise. PepsiCo/Lipton (-1.7%), Coke (-7.1%) and KDP (-6.4%) saw sales fall in the period, while AriZona climbed up 5.2%.

Sparkling Flavored Water

Sparkling water sales decelerated, up +2.5% in the two-week period compared to +2.7% in the four-weeks. Volume sales in the two-weeks fell by 5.3% as pricing increased by 8.2%. Talking Rain (+1.2%), National Beverage Corp. (+3.2%) and Polar (+7.1%) reported positive dollar sales increases; as did Spindrift which was up +1.8% in the two-week period, facing significant deceleration from the four-week (+9.6%) and 52-week (+43.9%) periods. Meanwhile, PepsiCo (-4.1%), Coke (-9.8%) and Nestle (-3.4%) all faced dollar sales drops.

Coffee

RTD coffee dollar sales fell by 0.9% in the two-weeks, compared to 0.6% declines for the four-weeks. The slide was reflected by a 4% drop in volume sales against a 3.3% increase in average pricing. Starbucks dollar sales fell 7% in the period, flat with the four-weeks, and volume decreased by -13.9%. Coke dollar sales were down 24.3%, however Danone (+29.6%) and Califia Farms (+18.9%) saw positive increases.

Still Flavored Water

Sales modestly accelerated, up 5.2% in the period compared to +4.5% in the four-weeks. Volume sales fell by 13.5% while average pricing offset the decline, up 21.6%. Coke’s sales in the category were down by 0.5%, but others including PepsiCo (+18.8%), Hint (+0.3%), Good2grow (+41.8%) and The Kraft Heinz Company (+14.4%) reported positive dollar sales increases.