Beverage alcohol category sales growth slowed a bit after the Cinco de Mayo surge, according to new Nielsen data. Category sales were still healthy, though. Spirits sales off-premise increased by 38.8%, wine increased by 30.8% and beer/FMB/cider grew by 25.5% for the week ended May 16.
The Top 50 spirits brands represented 65% of sales off-premise pre-COVID, and thus far have accounted for a similar amount during the COVID period. Tito’s Handmade Vodka is a notable exception because the brand’s dollar share increased from 5% pre-COVID to 8% during the COVID period.
It’s also been widely reported that during the quarantine period in the U.S. consumers have trended toward buying products they know. However, a recent Nielsen study determined that hard seltzer is an exception to that rule. Among all buyers purchasing seltzer during COVID weeks, 44% of them were new to the hard seltzer category.
Source: N/A, May 2020