- Value sales for spirits in June decline by 4.9%
- Volumes for the month fall 6.3%
If the recent spate of brand owners’ results hadn’t underlined already the sticky situation the spirits industry finds itself in in the US, the latest monthly data from NABCA really drives the point home. However, the sea of red across the June figures requires caveating by the fact that June comprised 15 fewer selling days across the Control States than in the same month in 2023 – five fewer in Utah, three in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania and one each in Alabama, Mississippi, Montana and North Carolina.
With this in mind, the double-digit slides (for both volumes and sales value) for Irish whiskey, rum and Scotch may not be as bleak a set of circumstances as they first appear. The same can be said of the tequila segment, which has long been one of spirits’ prop-ups in the country; a 3.4% monthly lift by value is the segment’s worst performance for years.
A more reliable indication of the landscape for spirits is the year-to-date data set. The averages over the six months to the end of June show that brandy & cognac is not yet at a corner-turning point, while the scotch and rum segments are also both on downward curves of note.
Indeed, the half-year performance for spirits in the Control States of the US chimes with last week’s research from the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, which noted that a moderation of inflation in the second quarter had failed to allay consumer concerns about price. In June, for example, the Consumer Price Index for alcohol in the US was up by almost 2%.
In spirits, then, the industry-wide focus on premiumisation may require deprioritising by brand owners, who will not want to lose market share in 2024.
The data from NABCA measures spirits sales across 17 US states [and Montgomery County in Maryland] where distribution is state-controlled. This represents around 25% of total sales in the country and covers both the on- and off-premise channels.
The Control States are:
- Alabama
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Maine
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
There are also control municipalities in Alaska, Minnesota and South Dakota.
Why 2024 is proving to be a sobering experience for the alcohol industry in the US – Market Intel
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