CHICAGO – March 17, 2006 – Innovative strategies in pricing, merchandising and supply chain continue to be the key elements driving success of today’s leading beer brands, according to Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), the leading global provider of enterprise market information solutions for the consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, and adult beverage industries. The IRI Beer, Wine and Spirits practice today announced its highly-anticipated annual “Top 30 Beer Brand Performers in 2005,” a revealing industry look at the 30 top growing individual beer brands across the beer market. IRI also unveiled its “Top 10 New Beer Brands in 2005,” a list of emerging new brand entries.
For the Top 30 Beer Brand Performers ranking, IRI analyzed volume growth, share of segment trends, front line pricing, distribution gains, and incremental sales and growth in 2005 versus 2004 to determine the brands with the strongest performance in the beer industry.
Notables that include Busch Light, Coors Light, Miller Lite, and Pabst Blue Ribbon are on the list, but the coveted No. 1 ranked brand goes to the import beer, Corona Extra, brewed by Grupo Modelo in Mexico. Additional imports that made the ranking include Modelo Especial, Newcastle Brown Ale, Corona Light, Negro Modelo, Pacifico, Heineken, Guinness Draught, Red Stripe, Labatt Blue Light, and Tecate. Micro/craft beers remain popular in the ranking, with such brands as New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale, Widmer Hefeweizen, Samuel Adams Seasonal, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Shiner Bock making the list. Of course, domestic beers will never go out of style. Natural Light, Milwaukee’s Best Ice, Miller High Life Light and Yuengling Traditional Lager remain strong brands.
“The timely data that IRI provides is relied upon extensively in the brewing industry,” said Benj Steinman, president of Beer Marketer’s INSIGHTS. “It’s used by everyone from large brewers, importers and microbrewers to the trade media and financial analysts.”
The Top 30 Beer Brand Performers ranking is designed to highlight the brands that experienced significant year-over-year growth across total U.S. supermarkets in 2005. In addition to looking at volume and dollar sales, IRI also examined pricing, distribution, share growth, and incremental volume and dollar contribution. Combined, these brands outpaced the overall beer category by 4-to-5 percent in volume and dollar sales growth, respectively, versus the previous year.
The IRI Top 30 Beer Brand Performers in 2005
1. CORONA EXTRA
2. MODELO ESPECIAL
3. NEWCASTLE BROWN ALE
4. CORONA LIGHT
5. NEW BELGIUM FAT TIRE AMBER ALE
6. BUSCH LIGHT
7. STEEL RESERVE HIGH GRAVITY LAGER
8. BLUE MOON BELGIUM WHITE ALE
9. NEGRA MODELO
10. COORS LIGHT
11. NATURAL ICE
12. PACIFICO
13. MILLER LITE
14. WIDMER HEFEWEIZEN
15. YUENGLING TRADITIONAL LAGER
16. MILLER HIGH LIFE LIGHT
17. HEINEKEN
18. MILWAUKEE’S BEST ICE
19. SAMUEL ADAMS SEASONAL
20. NATURAL LIGHT
21. SIERRA NEVADA PALE ALE
22. GUINNESS DRAUGHT
23. RED STRIPE
24. LABATT BLUE LIGHT
25. PABST BLUE RIBBON
26. SAINT PAULI GIRL
27. KEYSTONE LIGHT
28. GROLSCH LAGER
29. SHINER BOCK
30. TECATE
* Minimum of 500,000 Cases Sold in Total U.S. Supermarkets for 52 Weeks Ending January 1, 2006.
“This outstanding group of beer brands in this year’s top 30 ranking is a great representation of the big trends in 2005,” said Dan Wandel, vice president of the IRI Beer, Wine and Spirits practice. “Consumers are definitely willing to pay for their favorite brands, with 18 of the top 30 performers being high-end brands that include 13 imports and five micro/craft brands. Manufacturers are also meeting the ever-changing tastes of consumer demands with their new product innovations. For instance, new flavors, such as watermelon, grape, berry, green apple and black cherry, are quickly becoming crowd pleasers. New imported light beers, new brand line extensions, such as Budweiser Select, and new concept items, including Anheuser-Busch’s new B E, are also hitting the right note with consumers.”
“Barton Beers had a very good year across our entire portfolio--a fact that is further validated by rankings of our brands in the IRI listing of the Top 30 Beer Brand Performers in 2005,” said Bill Hackett, president of Barton Beers. “We are thrilled with these results, since the IRI rankings measure brand performance across the board and are based on a challenging range of criteria. Six of our seven brands are included in this prestigious ranking, and all five of our Modelo brands are ranked in the top 12 brands. Corona Extra, Modelo Especial and Corona Light ranked first, second and fourth, respectively.”
Providing forward looking insight about key brands to watch in the year ahead, IRI also announced the following Top 10 New Beer Brands in 2005:
The IRI Top 10 New Beer Brands in 2005
1. BUDWEISER SELECT
2. SMIRNOFF TWISTED V WATERMELON
3. SMIRNOFF TWISTED V BLACK CHERRY
4. MIKE’S HARD BERRY
5. BECKS PREMIER LIGHT
6. BACARDI SILVER WATERMELON
7. BACARDI SILVER LOW CARB GREEN APPLE
8. B E
9. SMIRNOFF TWISTED V WILD GRAPE
10. HEINEKEN PREMIUM LIGHT LAGER
* Total U.S. Supermarkets for 52 Weeks Ending January 1, 2006.
“We saw a number of exciting new product introductions in 2005 as evidenced by the diversity of the Top 10 New Beer Brands list,” added Wandel. “These brands made quite impressive entries and are poised for even further success in the coming year.”
For complete details on the Top 30 Beer Brand Performers, contact Dan Wandel at dan.wandel@infores.com.
About Information Resources, Inc.
Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) is the world’s leading provider of enterprise market information solutions and services, empowering its clients to grow their business profitably in a complex marketplace. Driving the transformation of the consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, and healthcare industries, only IRI provides a unique combination of real-time market content, advanced analytics, enterprise performance management software, and professional services. The company’s portfolio of services, solutions, and technology enable leading retailers and their suppliers around the globe to see what they are missing, act faster with greater confidence and win at the shelf. Ninety-five percent of the FORTUNE Global 500 in CPG and retail leverage IRI to power their business. For more information, visit http://us.infores.com.
Editor’s note: Specific brands and/or products listed are either trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.