Total Alc Declines Continued in Early May; Prepared Cocktails Slow

During the four weeks ending May 9th, Total Alcohol remained behind year-ago levels, NIQ reports. Dollar sales reached $8.1 billion but declined –6% vs a year earlier, while case volume totaled 159.1 million, down –7% vs YA.

On a weekly basis, dollar sales increased compared to the prior period (w/e May 2nd), reaching $2.1B and reflecting a +2.8% WoW gain. However, this modest uptick appears short-lived, as warmer weather and Cinco de Mayo provided only limited and temporary relief against ongoing category declines.

Prepared Cocktails slowdown adds to Total Alcohol headwinds

• Prepared Cocktails deepened into negative territory, continuing to fall short of its crucial role as a category growth driver, as dollar sales declines grew to -1.4%, with sharper contractions in case volume, down -6.2%.

• Wine maintained its position as the weakest performer, with losses largely in line with the prior period, as dollar sales fell -8.5% and volume fell -8.9%, leading Total Alcohol declines.
• Spirits performance strengthened mildly, with dollar sales down -6.5% and volume declining -5.8%.
• Beer is struggling to sustain its relative outperformance with declines accelerating to -5.9% in dollars and -7% in volume, signaling increasing pressure compared to prior periods.
• • This period’s Total Alcohol performance underscores ongoing instability across the industry and the continued reliance on Prepared Cocktails to help offset broader Alcohol underperformance. Wine remains the primary drag on trends, while Spirits show slight seasonal improvement but remain negative. Beer’s recent softening signals fading resilience as the category mix weakens heading into peak seasonal demand.

Industry underperformance persists nationwide as all key states remain in decline

• Regional results continued to reflect the slowdown seen at the Total U.S. level, with no major states posting sales growth. Ohio experienced the mildest declines, with dollar sales down -2.3%, followed by Michigan at -4.0%. Massachusetts remained the top decliner among major states, though losses eased slightly to -10.8%.
• Volume trends closely mirrored sales performance across the top ten states. Ohio again showed the most stable declines at -4.2%, while New Jersey followed at -4.6%. Massachusetts continued to post the steepest volume losses at -10.2%.
• Overall, continued declines across all major states reinforce the broad and persistent nature of current industry pressures. Ohio shows relative stability compared to peers, while Massachusetts persistently ranks as the most pressured market. Liquor and Food declines add pressure to Total Alcohol performance in early May.

Beer declines deepen as both YoY performance and recent stability weaken

In the four weeks ending May 9th, Beer losses widened versus year-ago levels, with dollar sales down -5.9% and case volume declining -7.0%. Weekly trends increased to $891.6M from $873.7M (+2.0% WoW).

Performance continues to signal erosion from the stronger momentum seen in March and early April.

Category-wide weakness extends across all core Beer segments, including Cider Weakness remained widespread across core Beer segments. Domestic Premium led losses (-9.4% in value, -10.9% in volume), followed by Craft (-8.6% in value, -10.4% in volume). Meanwhile, Import Beer losses intensified (-6.5% in value, -7.7% in volume), Domestic Super Premium continued to slip(-3.4% in value, -3.6% in volume), and Cider entered negative territory (-0.2% in value, -1.8% in volume). Non-Alc Beer (+4.0% in value, +2.5% in volume) stood as the only segment delivering gains.

Cider drove recent Beer results with newfound declines, after previous growth trends (+1.1% in the prior period).