This near-term decline corresponds with the current COVID-19 environment and is predominantly driven by Wine approvals though all three categories are seeing a tremendous deceleration versus the L12M time period.
By Category:
Beer: 8.6K product approvals over the L3M, –3.2% vs. last year (L12M: +7.7%).
Spirits: 4K product approvals over the L3M, +0.9% vs. last year (L12M: +20.2%).
Wine: 27.1K product approvals over the L3M, –15.6% vs. last year (L12M: +2.5%).
Likely as a result of tariff threats compounded by COVID-19, the near-term decline is driven by Imports.
By Origin:
Domestic: 22.2K product approvals over the L3M, +3.2% vs. last year (L12M: +11.9%).
Imports: 17.5K product approvals over the L3M, –25.3% vs. last year (L12M: –1.3%).
These approvals may also hint at other dynamics in the industry.
Domestic Beer approvals are down -0.1% L3M vs. +9.0% over the L12M possibly indicating weakness in the craft beer space.
Domestic Wine approvals are still up +5.8% L3M vs. +12.7% over the L12M. Total Wine approvals are disproportionately concentrated in Imports (vs. Beer and Spirits) with 60% of Wine products approved over L12M being imports.
Ultimately, these results may indicate a near-term shift in new product introductions moving forward.
For more information regarding Product Approvals including detailed category breakdowns and origin information (State for Domestic products and Country for Imported products), subscribe to the bw166 Product Approvals Report or visit our website at www.bw166.com.
Total beverage alcohol imports (including bulk and packaged) grew +0.200% by value over the last twelve months and declined -18.8% by value over the last three months. 27.6% of all imported beverage alcohol by value came from Mexico over the last twelve months.
Total beverage alcohol exports (included bulk and packaged) grew +0.300% by value over the last twelve months and declined -7.80% by value over the last three months. 20.5% of all exported beverage alcohol by value went to Canada over the last twelve months.
Each of the bw166 Import and Export Reports (for Beer, Spirits, and Wine) enable tracking Beverage Alcohol imports and exports on a monthly basis for volume, value in USD, and value in local currency for all major trading countries.
Beer:
Imported beer declined -4.90% by volume and declined -1.90% by value over the last twelve months. Over the last three months imports declined -24.1% by volume and declined -24.1% by value. 70.5% of imported beer by value comes from Mexico.
Exported beer declined -27.2% by volume and grew +3.90% by value over the last twelve months. Over the last three months exports declined -43.5% by volume and declined -17.6% by value. 16.3% of exported beer by value goes to Chile.
For more details regarding imported and exported beer across all countries, subscribe to the bw166 Beer – Imports and Exports report.
Spirits:
Imported packaged spirits for the last twelve months grew +3.40% by volume and declined -0.900% by value. Over the last three months volumes declined -6.80% and declined -17.1% by value.
Imported bulk spirits for the last twelve months grew +13.5% by volume and grew +22.9% by value. Over the last three months volumes grew +12.0% and grew +1.80% by value.
29.6% of all imported packaged spirits by value arrived from France while 48.2% of all imported bulk spirits by value arrived from Brazil.
Exported packaged spirits for the last twelve months declined -38.7% by volume and grew +4.70% by value. Over the last three months volumes declined -19.0% and grew +14.2% by value.
Exported bulk spirits for the last twelve months declined -1.40% by volume and grew +0.600% by value. Over the last three months volumes grew +54.6% and declined -12.4% by value.
26.0% of all exported packaged spirits by value is destined for Panama while 21.7% of all exported bulk spirits by value is destined for Canada.
For more details regarding imported and exported spirits including detailed category breakdowns across all countries, subscribe to the bw166 Spirits – Imports and Exports report.
Wine:
Imported packaged wine for the last twelve months grew +6.80% by volume and declined -0.800% by value. Over the last three months volumes grew +0.900% and declined -20.0% by value.
Imported bulk wine for the last twelve months grew +17.6% by volume and grew +7.60% by value. Over the last three months volumes declined -2.20% and grew +1.60% by value.
34.5% of all imported packaged wine by value arrived from Italy while 26.3% of all imported bulk wine by value arrived from New Zealand.
Exported packaged wine for the last twelve months declined -7.10% by volume and declined -6.90% by value. Over the last three months volumes declined -21.5% and declined -17.6% by value.
Exported bulk wine for the last twelve months declined -2.40% by volume and declined -4.40% by value. Over the last three months volumes grew +2.30% and declined -11.2% by value.
37.6% of all exported packaged wine by value is destined for Canada while 54.3% of all exported bulk wine by value is destined for United Kingdom.
For more details regarding imported and exported wine including detailed category breakdowns across all countries, subscribe to the bw166 Wine – Imports and Exports report.
Beer: 41.6K products approved over the L12M (+5.8% vs. last year) and 9.7K over the L3M (–9.5% vs. last year)
Spirits: 17.4K products approved over the L12M (+19.6% vs. last year) and 4.7K over the L3M (+18.5% vs. last year)
Wine: 117.1K products approved over the L12M (–0.5% vs. last year) and 28.4K over the L3M (–23.3% vs. last year)
By Origin:
Domestic: 91.6K products approved over the L12M (+8.9% vs. last year) and 24K over the L3M (–6.2% vs. last year)
Imports: 84.5K products approved over the L12M (–3.3% vs. last year) and 18.8K over the L3M (–27.9% vs. last year)
For more information regarding Product Approvals including detailed category breakdowns and origin information (State for Domestic products and Country for Imported products), subscribe to the bw166 Product Approvals Report or visit our website at www.bw166.com.
Total beverage alcohol imports (including bulk and packaged) grew +4.00% by value over the last twelve months and declined -5.10% by value over the last three months. 27.7% of all imported beverage alcohol by value came from Mexico over the last twelve months.
Total beverage alcohol exports (included bulk and packaged) grew +0.900% by value over the last twelve months and grew +9.30% by value over the last three months. 20.5% of all exported beverage alcohol by value went to Canada over the last twelve months.
Each of the bw166 Import and Export Reports (for Beer, Spirits, and Wine) enable tracking Beverage Alcohol imports and exports on a monthly basis for volume, value in USD, and value in local currency for all major trading countries.
Beer:
Imported beer declined -0.300% by volume and grew +3.00% by value over the last twelve months. Over the last three months imports declined -8.90% by volume and declined -7.70% by value. 71.1% of imported beer by value comes from Mexico.
Exported beer declined -26.1% by volume and grew +5.40% by value over the last twelve months. Over the last three months exports declined -36.5% by volume and declined -3.90% by value. 15.9% of exported beer by value goes to Chile.
For more details regarding imported and exported beer across all countries, subscribe to the bw166 Beer – Imports and Exports report.
Spirits:
Imported packaged spirits for the last twelve months grew +6.20% by volume and grew +3.80% by value. Over the last three months volumes grew +0.100% and declined -5.20% by value.
Imported bulk spirits for the last twelve months grew +13.1% by volume and grew +21.2% by value. Over the last three months volumes grew +18.1% and grew +22.3% by value.
29.7% of all imported packaged spirits by value arrived from France while 48.6% of all imported bulk spirits by value arrived from Brazil.
Exported packaged spirits for the last twelve months declined -41.3% by volume and grew +1.60% by value. Over the last three months volumes declined -27.0% and grew +24.9% by value.
Exported bulk spirits for the last twelve months declined -5.90% by volume and grew +2.10% by value. Over the last three months volumes grew +19.5% and grew +12.8% by value.
24.8% of all exported packaged spirits by value is destined for Panama while 21.6% of all exported bulk spirits by value is destined for Canada.
For more details regarding imported and exported spirits including detailed category breakdowns across all countries, subscribe to the bw166 Spirits – Imports and Exports report.
Wine:
Imported packaged wine for the last twelve months grew +6.60% by volume and grew +2.00% by value. Over the last three months volumes grew +4.30% and declined -8.10% by value.
Imported bulk wine for the last twelve months grew +15.5% by volume and grew +4.30% by value. Over the last three months volumes grew +1.50% and grew +6.60% by value.
33.6% of all imported packaged wine by value arrived from Italy while 26.7% of all imported bulk wine by value arrived from New Zealand.
Exported packaged wine for the last twelve months declined -4.10% by volume and declined -4.00% by value. Over the last three months volumes declined -8.40% and declined -7.40% by value.
Exported bulk wine for the last twelve months declined -4.70% by volume and declined -5.10% by value. Over the last three months volumes declined -4.00% and declined -12.9% by value.
37.1% of all exported packaged wine by value is destined for Canada while 53.9% of all exported bulk wine by value is destined for United Kingdom.
For more details regarding imported and exported wine including detailed category breakdowns across all countries, subscribe to the bw166 Wine – Imports and Exports report.
bw166 released The Total Beverage Alcohol Overview for April 2020 utilizing tax paid data, government data sources, and other resources to give a perspective on the US Beverage Alcohol market. While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused alterations to the methodologies to track the significant shifts, bw166 continues to use actual data to provide a complete picture of the US.
Critical insights for April, the first full month of “stay at home”:
The 12-month serving index is up +2.4% versus LDA population growth of +1.0% – indicating US consumers have increased their overall consumption slightly while being home.
The significant shift from On-Premise to Off-Premise has reduced total consumer spending (due to On-Premise mark-ups) despite increases in volume.
Texas tax receipts in On-Premise accounts are down -88% year over year compared to +6% for 2019 (note that this data only includes On-Premise accounts that can sell Beer, Spirits, and Wine).
NABCA markets (excl. PA) show Spirits volumes +14.6% for the month. As these stores sell to consumers and On-Premise operators, this represents a significant increase in Spirits share.
Several states have released official reports for April which show Beer volumes -0.6%, Spirits volumes +5.7%, and Wine volumes +4.2% (inc. AK, IL, MO, NE, OR, TN, and WI which represented 12% of the LDA population and 12% of TBA servings in 2019).
The equivalent wholesale value of Beer and Spirits were up in April versus a year ago. Wine’s wholesale value was down due to the combined impact of significant declines in On-Premise and winery tasting rooms (bw166’s equivalent wholesale value represents the value as if 100% of business sells through the three-tier system).
Ultimately, the US Beverage Alcohol market is sustaining the impacts of COVID-19 far better than most countries with the Spirits category, the clear winner in gaining market share during the pandemic.
