Imported Beer and Flavored Alcoholic Beverages - US

Imported Beer and Flavored Alcoholic Beverages - US

While imported beer sales grew faster than domestic beer sales from 2002 to 2007, the main increases came through growth in the population, underscoring the stiff competition faced from other alcoholic beverages. The imported beer market is not in distress, however. Rather, it is primed for manufacturers to harness consumer attitudes toward imported beer including perceptions about beer taste, quality, differentiation and variety. This report gives industry participants the analysis and insight needed to understand and target both beer drinkers and non-drinkers to maintain and grow market share. The following issues are analyzed:

• How the market can adapt to consumers looking to “trade up” their alcoholic beverage choices
  
  
• Why domestic craft beer threatens market sales and what its popularity can teach imported beer manufacturers
  
  
• How distribution alliances have changed the retail distribution landscape
  
  
• Who is most calorie-conscious and how that affects his/her beer decisions
  
  
• How beer marketers can target new users without alienating their highly loyal base
  
  
• How the market can continue to connect with the Hispanic consumer, the driving force behind market growth
  
  
• Which brands are leading the way in targeting women with imported beer
  
  
• How the “age dilemma” can be addressed
  
  
• How “beer education” and country of origin information can drive sales

This report builds on the analysis presented in Mintel’s Imported Beer—US, December 2006, as well as other reports including Domestic Beer—US, December 2007; Wine—US, February 2007, and White and Dark Spirits: The Market—US, February 2007, and White and Dark Spirits: The Consumer—US, April 2007. For the purposes of this report, “imported beer” refers to beer produced outside of the US and imported for sale in the US. “Domestic beer” refers to all beer produced in the US.  
 

SCOPE AND THEMES

What you need to know

Definition

Resources used for the consumer sections

Abbreviations and terms

Abbreviations

Terms

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In a nutshell

Competitive context

Consumers “trading up” their alcoholic beverage choices

Craft beer an emerging threat to import cache

Supplier alliances spur growth and set positive stage

Reasons for drinking less beer today, compared to a few years ago

Reasons for drinking more beer today than a year few years ago

Retail distribution

Beer purchase driving attributes at retail

Demographic drivers

Hispanics drive growth

Adults aged 21-34

Players, by segment

Major players

Regular imported beer

Innovation highlight: Heineken DraughtKeg

Light imports

Targeting the consumer

Women under-penetrated; potential for growth exists

Resolving the age dilemma

Growing the base while maintaining loyalty

Experimenting with beer pairing

Leveraging quality taste, taste differentiation, and variety

Leveraging country of origin

Beer energy drinks—the rise of a new segment

MARKET DRIVERS

Consumers “trading up” their alcoholic beverage choices

Figure 1: Distribution of households, by income, 1999 and 2006

Competition from other alcoholic beverages: domestic beer, wine, and distilled spirits

Figure 2: Volume sales and market share for domestic beer, imported beer, distilled spirits and wine, 2001-06

Craft beers present tough competition for the market

Figure 3: Total U.S. volume sales of craft beer, 2004-07

Young adults aged 21-34—the key growth-driving demographics

Figure 4: Incidence of personal consumption of beer, by age, May 2006-June 2007

Figure 5: Numbers of beers drunk last month, by age, May 2006-June 2007

Figure 6: Numbers of imported, regular domestic, and light beer drunk, by age, 2007

Figure 7: U.S. population of adults aged 21 and over, 2002-12

Hispanics drive growth

Figure 8: U.S. population, by race and Hispanic origin, 2002-12

Figure 9: Incidence of drinking Mexican brands, by race and ethnicity, 2003 and 2007

Light imported beers, with premium moniker, inject growth in the market

MARKET SIZE AND TRENDS

MARKET SIZE

Overview—all beer

Figure 10: Total U.S. retail dollar sales of beer, on and off premises, at current and constant prices, 2002-07

Figure 11: Total U.S. retail volume sales of beer, 2002-07

Imported beer

Figure 12: Total U.S. retail dollar sales of Imported beer, at current and constant prices, 2002-07

Figure 13: Total U.S. retail volume sales of imported beer, 2002-07

MARKET TRENDS

Figure 14: New beer product releases, 2002-07

Luxury light beers

DraughtKeg arrives in the U.S

MARKET SEGMENTATION

Introduction

Figure 15: Volume sales of imported beer, segmented by type, 2005 and 2007

Regular imported beer

Figure 16: Total U.S. volume sales of regular imported beer, 2002-07

Figure 17: Regular imported beer sales, by country of origin, 2004 and 2006

Figure 18: Top ten regular imported beer brands, 2004 and 2006

Light imported beer

Figure 19: Total U.S. volume sales of light imported beer, 2002-07

Figure 20: Top four light imported beer brands, 2004 and 2006

SUPPLY STRUCTURE

FOREIGN TRADE

Figure 21: U.S. beer imports, by country of origin, 2002-07

Alliances and acquisitions

COMPANIES AND BRANDS

Figure 22: Manufacturer sales of imported beer in the U.S., 2004 and 2006

Regular imported beer

Figure 23: Selected brand sales and market share of regular imported beer in the U.S., 2004 and 2006

Light imported beer

Figure 24: Selected brand sales and market share of light imported beer in the U.S., 2004 and 2006

ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION

Figure 25: Total beverage alcohol advertising spending trends, 2002-06

Figure 26: Selected advertising expenditures for imported beer, by company/brand, 2005 and 2006

Heineken USA

Heineken Premium Light

Figure 27: Heineken Premium Light, slim can packaing—TV ad, 2007

Amstel Light

Figure 28: Amstel Light, Live Tastefully—TV ad, 2007

Heineken

Figure 29: Heineken, DraughtKeg—TV ad, 2007

Figure 30: Heineken, Casino Royale—TV ad, 2006

Dos Equis

Figure 31: Dos Equis, Most Interesting Man in the World—TV ad, 2007

Crown Imports

Figure 32: Corona Extra—TV ad, 2007

Corona Light

Figure 33: Corona Light—TV ad, 2007

Diageo-Guinness USA

Figure 34: Guinness Stout, Alive Inside—TV ad, 2007

Figure 35: Red stripe, Boo Unexpected Room of Evil—TV ad, 2007

InBev USA

Figure 36: Beck’s—TV ad, 2007

Stella Artois

RETAIL DISTRIBUTION

Introduction

Figure 37: Choice of retail channel to purchase beer, by beer type, October 2007

Figure 38: U.S. retail sales of imported beer, by channel, 2005 and 2007

On-premise

Figure 39: On-premises places to drink beer, October 2007

Figure 40: U.S. on-premise sales of imported beer, at current and constant prices, 2002-07

Beer, wine, and liquor stores, and mass merchandisers

Figure 41: U.S. beer, wine, and liquor store sales of imported beer, at current and constant prices, 2002-07

Convenience stores

Figure 42: U.S. convenience store sales of beer, at current and constant prices, 2002-07

Supermarkets

Figure 43: U.S. supermarket sales of beer, at current and constant prices, 2002-07

THE CONSUMER: USAGE AND FREQUENCY OF USE

Summary

Trends in beer drinking

Personal beer consumption

Trends in frequency of use

Amount of beer drunk, by type of beer and demographics

Trends in beer drinking

Figure 44: Incidence of personal consumption of beer, 2003-07

Personal beer consumption

Figure 45: Incidence of personal consumption of imported, light and regular domestic beer, by key

demographics, May 2006-June 2007

Trends in frequency of use

Figure 46: Frequency of drinking different types of beer, 2003-07

Amount of beer drunk, by type of beer and demographics

Figure 47: Frequency of drinking different types of beer, by key demographics, May 2006-June 2007

THE CONSUMER: BRAND PREFERENCES

Summary

Incidence of drinking beer by brands

Favorite brand of beer

Incidence of drinking beer by brands

Figure 48: Incidence of drinking beer by imported and domestic brands, by gender, October 2007

Figure 49: Incidence of drinking beer by imported and domestic brands, by age, October 2007

Figure 50: Incidence of drinking beer by brands, by race/ethnicity, October 2007

Favorite brand of beer

Figure 51: Favorite brand of beer, by gender, October 2007

THE CONSUMER: BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES

Summary

Interest in flavored and energy-based beer

Beer-drinking behavior

Beer purchase driving attributes at retail

Importance of brands, flavors and taste and types of beer in purchasing beer

Incidence of drinking more or less beer compared to a year ago

Reasons for drinking less beer today, compared to a few years ago

Reasons for drinking more beer today than a year few years ago

Attitudes towards beer

Choice of alcoholic beverages while eating out

Importance of the country of origin for imported beer drinkers

Interest in flavored and energy-based beer

Figure 52: Interest in flavored and energy-based beer, by domestic and imported beer drinkers, October 2007

Figure 53: Interest in flavored and energy-based beer, by race/ethnicity, October 2007

Beer-drinking behavior

Figure 54: Beer-drinking behavior, by domestic and imported beer drinkers, October 2007

Beer purchase driving attributes at retail

Figure 55: beer purchasing habits and preferences, imported vs. domestic, October 2007

Importance of brands, flavors and taste and types of beer in purchasing beer

Figure 56: Attributes and brand preference when purchasing beer, by age, October 2007

Incidence of drinking more or less beer compared to a year ago

Figure 57: Incidence of drinking more or less beer compared to a year ago, by age, July 2007

Reasons for drinking less beer today, compared to a few years ago

Figure 58: reasons for drinking less beer today than a few years ago, imported vs. domestic drinkers, October

2007

Reasons for drinking more beer today than a year few years ago

Figure 59: reasons for drinking more beer today than a few years ago, imported vs. domestic drinkers, October

2007

Attitudes towards beer

Figure 60: Attitudes towards beer, by type of beer and key brands drunk, October 2007

Choice of alcoholic beverages while eating out

Figure 61: Choice of alcoholic beverage while dining at a restaurant, by type of beer and key brands drunk,

October 2007

Importance of the country of origin for imported beer drinkers

Figure 62: Selection of beer based on country of origin, by gender, October 2007

Figure 63: Selection of beer based on country of origin, by race/ethnicity, October 2007

FUTURE AND FORECAST

FUTURE TRENDS

Market growth through imported light beer expansion

Craft beer an emerging threat to import cache

Beer pairing

Beer energy drinks—the rise of a new segment

Alliances among suppliers will set the stage for growth through expansion in distribution channels 83

Growth driving demographics—future implications

Growth in beer consumption is likely to lag population growth

Figure 64: U.S. population of adults aged 21+, 2007 and 2012

Figure 65: Number of regular domestic and light beers drunk, by age, 2007 and 2012

Hispanics present continued opportunity

Figure 66: Incidence of drinking beer per month, by type, by race/ethnicity, May 2006-June 2007

MARKET FORECAST

Imported beer

Figure 67: Forecast of total U.S. sales of imported beer, at current and constant prices, 2007-12

Forecast factors

APPENDIX: FLAVORED ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

MARKET SIZE

Figure 68: FDM U.S. retail sales of flavored alcoholic beverages, at current and constant prices, 2002-07

MARKET SEGMENTATION

Introduction

Figure 69: FDM sales of flavored alcoholic beverage market, segmented by type, 2005 and 2007

Flavored malt beverages

Figure 70: FDM sales of flavored malt beverages, at current and constant prices, 2002-07

Figure 71: Top five flavored malt beverage brands at FDM, 2004 and 2006

Flavored cocktails/coolers

Figure 72: FDM sales of flavored cocktails/coolers, at current and constant prices, 2002-07

Hard ciders

Figure 73: FDM sales of hard ciders, at current and constant prices, 2002-07

THE CONSUMER

Introduction

Personal consumption of flavored alcoholic beverages

Figure 74: Incidence of personal consumption of flavored alcoholic beverages, 2003-07

Figure 75: Incidence of personal consumption of flavored alcoholic beverages, by key demographics, May 2006-

June 2007

Frequency of drinking FABs

Figure 76: Frequency of drinking flavored alcoholic beverages in last 30 days, 2003-07

Figure 77: Frequency of drinking flavored alcoholic beverages in last 30 days, by age, May 2006-June 2007

Figure 78: Frequency of drinking flavored alcoholic beverages in last 30 days, by gender, May 2006-June 2007

Flavored alcoholic beverage consumption by brands

Figure 79: Personal consumption of flavored alcoholic beverages by brands, by age, May 2006-June 2007

APPENDIX: TRADE ASSOCIATIONS