Flavored Alcohol Gains Ground in Convenience Stores

Flavored alcohol is continuing to take share from traditional beer, wine and spirits in U.S. convenience stores, according to new data cited Wednesday at the CSP Cold Vault Forum in Lombard, Illinois.

Dave Williams, president of Bump Williams Consulting in Shelton, Connecticut, said flavored alcohol beverages made up about 21% of total beer, wine and spirits sales in convenience stores in the year through April 18. That category includes flavored malt beverages, hard seltzers, prepared cocktails and wine-based cocktails. Sales reached about $1.9 billion, up 4.6% from a year earlier.

By contrast, traditional beer, wine and spirits generated $7.2 billion in sales over the same period and fell 2.7%, Williams said.

The forum, held May 11-13 and organized by Informa, brought together beverage executives and retailers as the convenience channel continues to adjust to changing consumer demand. Williams said the strongest growth within flavored alcohol came from prepared cocktails, which rose 41% to $242 million. Wine-based cocktails also posted a sharp gain, climbing 25% to $227 million.

Flavored malt beverages remained the largest segment within flavored alcohol at $911 million, even though sales declined 4% from a year earlier. Hard seltzer sales were nearly flat at $438 million, down 0.3%.

Williams said the shift is not uniform across all flavored products, but cocktail-style drinks and other flavor-driven offerings continue to hold up better than many traditional categories. He also pointed to smaller pack sizes and single-serve formats as gaining ground in higher-end alcohol products.

That trend is visible across beer, wine and spirits, including single-can cider packages, which grew 3.7%, he said.