Non-alcoholic beverage sales growth accelerated thanks to strong volume across nearly all categories in the two-week period ending May 21, according to an analysis of Nielsen data by Goldman Sachs Equity Research.
Overall dollar sales rose 14% year-over-year for the two-week period versus 11.3% growth for the four-week period and 10.2% for the prior 12-weeks. Bottled water and energy drinks led the charge in dollar sales growth “driven by stronger volume growth” as “price growth remained strong,” the report said.
Major beverage brands, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) all reported increased sales growth while Monster Energy sales were stable on a one-year basis.
Sodas & CSDs
Overall soda dollar sales were up 14% for the two-week period, accelerating from 12.2% in the four-week period and 9.7% growth for the 52-week period. The category’s volume sales fell 1.2%, compared to a 2.7% decline in the four week period. Average pricing was up 15.4% in the recent two-week period.
Coke sales rose modestly to 18.3% (from +12.2% for the recent four-week period) with volume up 1.4% and an average price increase of 16.7%. PepsiCo sales grew 7.7% (+6.3% for four weeks), with volume falling 6.5% and pricing up 15.2%. KDP dollar sales were up 13.8% (+11.6% for four weeks) for the period. KDP volume was stable with average pricing slightly rising to 13.8% (+13.5% in four weeks).
Energy Drinks
Total energy drink sales grew 10% in the two-week period, a minimal increase from 9.5% from the four-week period but a slight decline from 12.3% during the past 52 weeks. Volume sales were relatively flat at 5.5% in the two-week period compared to 5.1% in the four-week period. Pricing was also stable at 4.3% during the two-week period, in line with the 4% that pricing has been in the last year.
Monster dollar sales grew 8% (+8.1% for four-weeks) with volume nearly flat at 3.5% (+3.6% over four weeks) and pricing in line with the category at 4.3%. Celsius Holdings continues to make strides in the category with triple-digit dollar sales growth of 189.4% during the two-week period. Volume was also up 197.2% (compared to 199.9% in the four week period) while pricing dropped 2.6% for those two weeks. Meanwhile, Bang continued a downward trend with a loss of 12.5% in dollar sales during the two-week period and only a moderate price increase of 1.9%. Pepsico was also down 7.4% in dollar sales and 12.6% in volume as pricing rose 5.9%.
Bottled Water
Bottled water led the non-alcoholic beverage category with dollar sales accelerating to 21.8% in the two-week period from 17.7% in the four-week period and 14.9% in the 52-week period. Volume increased to 6.8% versus 3.7% in the four-week period and prices rose slightly to 14.1% in comparison to 13.5% in the four-weeks.
Private label dollar sales grew 34.3% as volume rose 5.8% and pricing beat the general category at 27%. Blue Triton (+17.8%), Pepsico (+18.2%) and Coca-Cola (+10.2%) all posted dollar sales growth. Both KDP (+37.7%) and Niagara Bottling (+38.5%) saw big strides in dollar sales for the category.
Sports Drinks
Pepsico (Gatorade) and Coca-Cola (BodyArmor and Powerade) still dominate the sports drink category. Broadly, the category was up 18.7% in dollar sales compared to 10.7% in the four-week period. Volume was only down 0.8% in the two-week period whereas pricing growth was relatively stable at 19.7%, versus 19.9% in the four-week period.
Pepsico saw dollar sales rise 17.5%, volume down 2.7% and pricing up 20.8%. Coca-Cola’s dollar sales were up 12.4% as volume was nearly flat at -0.5% and pricing grew 13%.
Tea
RTD tea sales continued the upward momentum rising 7.1% compared to 3.8% in the 52-week period. Volume was down 1.3% compared to 1.7% in the 52-weeks and pricing grew 8.6% from 5.5% in the 52-week period. Pepsi/Lipton Tea dollar sales have rebounded to 2.3% compared to 0.2% in the four-week and -2% in the 12-week periods. Volume dropped 7.6% and pricing remained stable at +10.7%. KDP saw lower dollar sales (-6%) and volume (-17.4%) as pricing rose 13.8% for the company.
Sparkling Flavored Water
Sparkling water sales accelerated, up +5.9% in the two-week period, in-line with the 5.8% in the 52-weeks. Volume sales in the two-weeks fell by 2.2% as pricing increased by 8.3%. Talking Rain (+3.6%) and National Beverage Corp. (+3.7%) reported dollar sales increases. Spindrift (+20.5%) and Polar (+20.1%) dollar sales show the respective companies’ continued growth in the category. PepsiCo (-3.4%), Coke (-14.5%), KDP (-12.9%) and Nestle (-5.7%) all faced dollar sales drops.
Coffee
The RTD coffee category grew 3.3% in the two-week period, up from 1.9% in the four-week period. Volume shrunk 1.8% and pricing rose moderately 5.1% (compared to 4.7% in the four-week period). Danone North America continued to lead growth in the category with a 30.9% increase in dollar sales, a 19.8% rise in volume and pricing up 9.3%. PepsiCo and Starbucks’ North American Coffee Partnership’s dollar sales fell -2.2%. Coca-Cola’s dollar sales slid -18.6% as well.
Still Flavored Water
Dollar sales growth was up 12.7% in the two-week period for the still flavored water category compared to 9.2% in the four-week period. Volume decreased 8.1% (-10.6 in four-weeks) and pricing made modest gains to 22.7% (22.1% in four-weeks). Coke (+5.1%), Pepsico (+23.7%), Hint (+29.5%) and Kraft-Heinz (+37%) saw positive dollar sales growth in comparison to the four-week period.