Beer imports continue to accelerate (STZ)
Total beverage alcohol imports declined by 5% over the last 12 months through September, as seen in the chart below. Imports grew 1% over the last three months. Imported beer declined 4% by volume and 1% by value over the last 12 months. Over the last three months through September, beer imports grew by 10% by volume and 14% by value. Through August imports were flat by volume and up 3% by value.
71% of all imported beer by value comes from Mexico. Constellation Brands represents a majority of Mexican beer imports and 60% of imported beer.
The beer wholesalers index decelerates from September, but imports accelerate (STZ)
The National Beer Wholesalers Association’s Beer Purchasers’ Index, which tracks wholesalers’ monthly buying behavior, expanded to 76 in October, up 6 points YOY, but down from 80 in September. An index above 50 indicates expansion and below 50 indicates contraction (like the ISM Manufacturing Index). Hard seltzers and FMBs led the index with a level of 92, up to one point from September. Imports were at 68 (up from 65 in September), craft beer at 51, premium light beer at 67, and premium regular at 53. Purchasing of below premium at 48 and cider at 44 were down YOY.
Year to date through September, U.S. brewers have shipped more than 126.5M barrels of beer, down 0.9% YOY according to domestic tax paid estimates from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. In September, shipments were 14.8M barrels, up 4,000 barrels YOY. States that have seen the greatest increase in 2020 are Utah up 9.5% Arizona up 9%, Kansas up 8.4%, Oklahoma up 7.8%, and New Hampshire up 6.4%.
Shopping for food more often is good for you (ACI)
A new report from the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics said that when you go to the supermarket more often, you tend to have a healthier diet. Researchers looked at nearly 100 lower-income families and found that the more often the people went to the store, the better food they purchased. Researchers compared people who went once a month to those who went two or three times a month and those who went once a week. They then scored the purchases on the Healthy Eating Index Score.
It never ceases to surprise me, which topics are actually researched. Maybe the grocery industry paid for the research as they look to restore shopping trips. The average U.S. household is now shopping once a week. Traffic has been slightly lower YOY during the pandemic, with the decrease mostly from consumers who went several times a week. In recent weeks trips have been up 1%, as seen in the chart below. With trip consolidation, the conventional grocers have benefited the most as consumers view those trips as one-stop destinations for groceries.
