Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/58579
2011, and so-called "premium" spirits (at an average selling price of $17.64) gained 5.4%. Both these numbers show a significant ongoing improvement over recent years, but in absolute numbers are still not at pre-Recessionary levels. Still, they reflect an important psychological shift among consumers, particularly the more affluent. The same holds true in the wine segment. Total U.S. wine consumption increased by 2.5% in 2011, to 310.7 million 9-liter cases (compared to an overall 1.7% wine volume increase in 2010), the eighteenth consecutive year of wine sales volume increases, according to Beverage Information Group research. Similar to spirits, the move toward high-end purchases continued in the wine segment. According to Nielsen, in 2011 sales of table wine priced $20 and above increased by 11.0%; sales of wines priced $15-$19.99 gained 7.8%; those priced $12-14.99 saw sales rise by 7.0%; and sales of table wine priced at $9-$11.99 gained 9.9%. Indeed, overall 2011 wine revenue figures show an increase of 2.9% to $27.69 billion, nearly $800 million more than in 2010. SPIRITS OVERVIEW F or beverage alcohol professionals, vodka remains the engine that drives the business. The huge spirits category rose another 6.0% in 2011, following a 6.1% increase in 2010. Overall, the vodka segment added almost 3.5 million 9-liter cases to its total of approximately 65.85 million 9-liter cases. Indeed, vodka now represents almost a third of all spirits consumed in the U.S. New vodka expressions abound, with flavors and brands from around the world still proliferating. Indeed, vodka flavors are getting even more T he categories of Growth Brands are designed to organize the wine and spirits brands demonstrating notable growth in a meaningful way, so as to help retailers, restaurateurs and the industry at large to discern the existing and emerging trends and tap into the opportunities. The criteria remain the same for distilled spirits and wine. FAST TRACK BRANDS Criteria: The brand must have exceeded 100,000 9-liter cases in 2011, with double-digit growth over each of the past four years. All brands must be at least five years of age. RISING STARS Criteria: The brand must be less than five full years of age, and must have exhibited notable growth over the past few years. ESTABLISHED GROWTH BRANDS Criteria: The brand must be a top seller, moving a minimum of 400,000 9-liter cases annually, and must have grown moderately or substantially over each of the past four years. prolific and edgier. Still, the reasons for vodka's huge pop- ularity remain primarily the easy mixability of the spirit and the continued popularity of cocktails made with vodka. The second-largest spirits category, rum, also saw consumption rise in 2011, up 1.3% to 25.88 million 9- liter cases. Still riding the popularity of the Mojito, the category activity continues to benefit from new spiced and flavored rums as well as a variety of aged expressions. Tequila also increased last year, with consumption up a healthy 3.8% to just over 12 million 9-liter cases. Largely driven by the Margarita, the category's consumption trends also take into account the various levels – from premium to superpremium to ultra-premium – of a brand's portfolio. Straight American whiskey is another category that saw sales volume rise in 2011, gaining a respectable 3.7% to more than 15.85 million 9-liter cases. The segment has been energized by superpremium product introductions as well as successful flavored bour- bon debuts. The smaller American blends segment decreased by 1.3% to just over 5.0 million cases. Other good news comes from the smallest imported whiskey category: Irish and Other whiskies. They jumped ahead by 23.9%, but to relatively modest total of 1.76 million 9-liter cases, driven primarily by the ongoing success of Jameson Irish Whiskey. For its part, overall Scotch whisky declined 1.4% in 2011 to almost 8.5 million cases, while Canadian whisky decreased by a slight 0.6% to more than 15.3 million cases. The third-largest spirits category, cordials& liqueurs, saw total consumption fall 1.2% to 19.42 million cases. Also losing ground was the gin category, which declined by 2.0% to 10.87 million cases. Brandy & Cognac was just above flat, at 10.37 million cases. Finally, prepared cocktails reversed a recent downward trend, increasing 3.8% to 6.24 million cases, a result of the success of a wide range of branded cocktail lines. WINE REVIEW T 20 • Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • March/April 2012 able wine now comprises about 91.9% of all wine consumed in the U.S., and it continued growing in 2011, rising 2.6% in 2011 to reach 285.5 million 9- liter cases. Interestingly, domestic brands outperformed, gaining 3.5%, while imported table wines declined 0.2% overall. Domestic table wines now represent 70.4% of the overall U.S. wine market, and a significant majority of the sales of these wines are for under $10 per bottle, though, as previously shown, the greatest percentage