Grocery traffic declines (KR, ACI)
For the week ended March 15th, visits to grocery stores nationally declined 28% YOY, according to Placer.ai, as the industry lapped the stockpiling early on in the pandemic. Traffic to Albertsons for the week declined 34.6%, Safeway declined 28.9%, and Kroger declined 27.9%. Compared to the same week in 2019, traffic to Albertsons declined 0.3%, Safeway declined 4.6%, and Kroger decreased 2.9%. Whole Foods had the weakest traffic than 2019 with a 20.7% decline, while the YOY decline was 28.6%.
Texas alcohol beverage sales (BUD)
Texas reports its alcoholic beverage sales tax receipts monthly. In March, alcoholic beverage receipts increased 12%. Due to the easy comparison, it was a marked acceleration from February’s 36% YOY decline. In Texas, bars were shut down in mid-March, then allowed to re-open on May 22 with capacity limits. In late June, bars were shut down again, then allowed to re-open once again in October by county. Bars were also allowed to reclassify as restaurants since June as long as food sales exceeded alcohol sales. Alcohol beverage sales in the state still have not broken out of the range it has been in since the pandemic, as seen below.
Canadian beer sales (TAP)
Beer volumes in Canada declined 1.3% in 2020, driven by a decline in imports, while domestic volumes declined 0.1%. Total beer volumes decreased 3.9% in February, improving from the 6.4% decline in January. Canadian domestic beer volumes increased 0.8% in February, improving from the 1.6% decline in January. Imported beer volumes fell 30.9% in February, improving slightly from the 33.8% decline in January. Export volume growth has outpaced imports, with exports increasing 10.9% in January, improving from a 6.6% increase in December (exports are reported on a one-month lag).
The Canadian government raised the excise tax on beer for the fifth time in four years last week. The wholesale excise beer tax is indexed to inflation, which drives the annual increase. Canada’s beer tax rate of nearly 50% of beer's price is one of the highest in the world.
