U.S. Beer sales slows as summer momentum fades – NielsenIQ
NielsenIQ data shows U.S. beer sales cooling as summer momentum fades, with core segments declining while non-alcoholic beer and super premium brands keep growing.
USA – U.S. beer sales weakened in the four weeks ended July 18 as the summer lift from Independence Day and the FIFA Club World Cup faded, according to new NielsenIQ data.
NielsenIQ’s latest Beer Pulse report found that dollar sales for total beer, excluding flavored malt beverages and hard seltzer, fell 3.4% from a year earlier in the latest four-week period. Case volume dropped 4.8%, a sign that the slowdown was driven more by softer consumer demand than by pricing alone.
The research firm said reduced consumer demand accounted for 79% of the category’s decline, while lower store availability contributed another 19%. Weekly sales also cooled after the holiday period, with dollar sales slipping to $923.9 million from $966.7 million the prior week, a 4.4% week-over-week decline, as buying patterns normalized after the July 4 surge.
The broad weakness was concentrated in core beer segments. NielsenIQ reported that domestic premium beer posted a 7.5% decline in dollar sales and an 8.5% drop in volume from a year earlier.
Craft beer also remained under pressure, with dollar sales down 6.2% and volume off 7.7%. Import beer held up better than those segments but still declined, with dollar sales down 2.2% and volume down 3.2%.
A few parts of the market continued to grow despite the broader pullback. Domestic super premium beer rose 2.2% in dollar sales and 2.0% in volume, suggesting some consumers are still willing to spend on higher-end mainstream brands even as overall demand softens. Cider also posted modest gains, with dollar sales up 1.6% and volume up 0.2%.
Non-alcoholic beer remained one of the clearest growth areas in the report. NielsenIQ said non-alcoholic beer sales increased 11.2% in dollars and 10.5% in volume in the latest four weeks, extending a trend that has made the segment one of the most consistent performers in beverage alcohol retail.
Among manufacturers, Anheuser-Busch remained the largest supplier by dollar sales, though its sales fell 3.1% and it lost 2.6 million cases in the period. Constellation ranked second, with dollar sales down 1.3% and case losses of 561,100.
Molson Coors Beverage Co. was third and posted one of the steeper declines among major brewers, with dollar sales down 6.5% and case volume down by 2.4 million.
At the brand level, Modelo remained the top-selling beer by dollars despite a 2.2% decline and a loss of 511,900 cases compared with a year earlier. Budweiser ranked second but had a sharper drop, with dollar sales down 9.6% and case losses totaling 2.2 million.
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