Total Bev/Al Sales Jump 20% Ahead of July 4; 4-Week Results Lag Year-Earlier

Total Alcohol dollar sales in the week ended July 4 climbed to $2.6 billionB, up +19.9% from the week ending June 27, NIQ reports. The increase likely reflects holiday-related purchasing ahead of Independence Day, while summer social occasions and FIFA World Cup viewing continuedd to support category demand.

Meanwhile. Total Alcohol results for the four weeks ended July 4 continued to disappoint. Dollar sales reached $9.3 billion, down 3% vs a year earlier, while case volume totaled 183.6million, declining 4.9% from the like year-earlier period.

Beer, Spirits Build Moment; Prepared Cocktails Leads

Prepared Cocktails remained the industry's strongest-performing segment, with dollar sales increasing +0.5% despite case volume declining 4.8%. Demand continues to be supported by the convenience of RTD formats and their relevance across summer entertaining occasions.

• Wine once again led category declines, with dollar sales down 4.5% and volume decreasing 6%. Performance remained largely unchanged from the prior four-week period (w/e June 27th), highlighting the continued challenges facing the category.

• Spirits continued to gain traction, with dollar sales declining 3.7% and volume down 4%. Recent improvement has been aided by heightened social occasions, including FIFA viewing events and Independence Day celebrations, which have provided a welcomed boost to category demand. • Beer maintained the slowest contraction, with dollar sales down 3.2% and volume falling 4.8%, as the category holds on to the stability it showed throughout June.

Overall, the latest results demonstrate the importance of seasonal occasions in sustaining Alcohol demand, NIQ analysts said. Prepared Cocktails continues to outperform the broader market, while Wine remains the industry's largest drag. Meanwhile, Beer and Spirits benefited from a combination of July 4th celebrations and FIFA viewership.

New Jersey remains bright spot, Illinois still a drag

Regional Alcohol trends remained largely challenging during the latest period, with most key states posting declines in both dollars and volume.

Ohio delivered the most stable performance among major markets, with dollar sales down 1.1% and volume declining 5.2%. Meanwhile, Illinois continued to face the greatest pressure, with dollar sales falling -6.8% and volume dropping 9.4%.

• Volume trends showed modest variation across states. New Jersey stood out as the only major growth market in volume, increasing 2%, driven by Beer and Prepared Cocktails, although dollar sales slipped 1.7%. By contrast, Illinois recorded the steepest declines across both metrics, posting losses of 9.4% in volume and 6.8% in dollars.

Overall, state-level results continue to reflect an uneven demand landscape. New Jersey remains one of the few markets generating positive volume momentum, but its strength has not been enough to offset persistent softness across larger states, particularly Illinois.

Retail channel trends sustained broad softness, with latest results nearly absent of bright spots, Mass led dollar losses -3.8%, Food followed -3.5%, Conv -3.0%, and Liquor -2.9%. Positive trends were solely held by Club +0.1% and All Other +2.3%.