OPM, which delivers deep and authoritative insights into the out-of-home drinks landscape in the US, shows beer attracted 40.1% of all BevAl spending in the 12 months to end-January—a year-on-year gain of 0.3 percentage points. The wine and spirits categories lost 0.3 and 0.4 percentage points of share respectively.
Beer’s performance has been largely driven by higher prices and distribution. Average prices have risen by 1.6% and total distribution points by 2.1%. However, rate of sale fell 5.0%, and beer’s volumes over the 12-month period dropped 3.0%.
Extending a recent trend, draft beer has stolen sales from packaged alternatives. Draft’s split of volumes rose 0.9 percentage points to 52.3% in the year to end-January.
CGA’s OPM analysis reveals some significant movements across beer’s sub-categories. Top-performing segments in the last 12 months include imports, which added 1.2 percentage points to their share of total beer volumes. Domestic super-premium added 0.6 percentage points, but the domestic premium segment lost 1.3 percentage points. The craft category continued a long run of losses with share slipping another 0.5 percentage points—though it remains beer’s largest sub-category.
The OPM service also provides valuable analysis of beer sales by style. It highlights a robust 2024 for pale lager, which gained 0.4 percentage points of share year-on-year, with particularly sharp increases in states including Louisiana, California, and Tennessee. Across the US, stout and pilsner added 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points of share respectively.
Matthew Crompton, CGA by NIQ’s Vice-President: On Premise-Americas, said: “While distribution is moving in the right direction, beer volumes remain under pressure in US bars and restaurants. Nevertheless, there are still substantial growth opportunities in different sub-categories, styles and states, and we can be cautiously optimistic that spending will pick up as we move deeper into 2025. Challenges make it more important than ever for suppliers and manufacturers to pinpoint market hotspots. Our OPM service is the perfect starting point for responsive and effective activations and brand positioning strategies that add to share in this competitive landscape.”
CGA by NIQ’s On Premise Impact Reports help suppliers and manufacturers across food and beverage keep a pulse on the industry, delivering expert and up-to-the-minute insights derived from a variety of our best-in-class data tools. Click here to download more information. To discover more about the service and opportunities for bespoke analysis, click here and contact the CGA by NIQ team or visit https://cgastrategy.com/unlock-the-potential-of-opm.
