Below is a complimentary excerpt from a recent institutional research note written by our Consumer Staples analysts Howard Penney and Daniel Biolsi. If you are an institutional investor interested in accessing our research email sales@hedgeye.com

Wine Sales Soar During March’s Stockpiling  - 5 13 2020 9 26 37 AM

The off-premise wine market grew 30% in March to $2.43B, calculated by combining the off-premise market scan data from Nielsen and winery direct to consumer shipments by Wines Vines Analytics and Sovos ShipCompliant.

Wines priced between $11 and $14.99 grew 40% and had the highest growth rate, as seen in the table below.

Wines priced over $20 account for a large part of the direct to consumer channel while lower than $20 dominates the retail channel. The only price range that decreased in sales was the >$100 tier. The complete halt in business meetings in March could explain the decrease. The average price paid at retail off-premise is up 2.3% for wine to $7.72. By volume wine sales grew 29% in March.

The wine brands that have led increases in volume and dollars in Nielsen tracked channels since early March include Barefoot, Black Box, Bota Box, Franzia, Josh, Stella Rosa, Woodbridge, and Yellow Tail. (Black Box and Woodbridge are owned by Constellation Brands).

Of the 25 brands that have grown the most in dollars YOY since the COVID-19 crisis began sixteen of them were not on the top 25 fastest growing list pre COVID-19 for the trailing 52 weeks. 14 of the 16 brands are in the top 25 in sales rankings.

That would suggest a change in spending behavior by consumers when not drinking at gatherings to favor the larger, well known brands.

Wine Sales Soar During March’s Stockpiling  - three insights 51220