Pre-Mixed Cocktails, Wine Coolers Expected to See Sales Rise This Summer
Summer has arrived, and that means the return of barbecues, pool parties and an uptick in alcoholic beverage sales.
Shopper intelligence firm Catalina has shared new insights into what products are expected to see sales rise this summer, giving retailers a better idea of how to promote and market private label beverages.
Pre-mixed cocktails are the big winners, seeing a 29% increase in unit sales year-over-year from May 2022 to May 2023. Wine coolers saw a 22% increase in the period, followed by non-alcoholic beer at 11%. Domestic beer(-3%), domestic wine (-5%) and hard seltzer (-15%) all saw a decrease in units sales.
For the full year, Catalina expects the pre-mixed Cocktails category to grow by 11% year over year in 2023, citing increased competition and innovation. For the May year-over-year period, the most popular base ingredients for pre-mixed cocktails were liqueur (+51%), beer (+46%), gin (+45%), tequila (+42%) and vodka (+30%).
“We expect pre-mixed cocktails to be well-stocked in picnic coolers across the country this summer, at the expense of hard seltzer and domestic beer and wine,” said Sean Murphy, chief data & analytics officer at Catalina. “Hosts can now conveniently offer a wider variety of flavors and styles, from a classic margarita to fruit-infused vodka spritzes, that are typically more affordable than buying individual ingredients. They are also lower in calories and sugar than many other alcoholic beverages.”
Catalina also noted that unit sales of sustainable bowls & plates (-15%) and cutlery (-32%) have fallen year-over-year. Sustainable cups, however, saw a category sales increase of 6% versus the same period in 2022. Traditional plastic cutlery and paper, plastic and styrofoam bowls & plates were flat, each seeing a decrease of 1% year-over-year.
“Taking a close look at shopping trends throughout the year enables us to better advise our retail and CPG brand customers on how best to connect with a variety of audiences most likely to buy a given product, as well as those who may need encouragement, with messaging and promotional offers to influence their buying behavior and provide added value,” said Murphy.