Red Bull reclaims leadership position, according to Wells Fargo.
The energy category had solid dollar sales growth of 9.3%, driven by continued solid results from Monster and Red Bull, reported Wells Fargo Securities, citing Nielsen data for the four-week period ended Jan. 17, 2015.
Monster generated solid 10.4% dollar sales growth (+9.7% for 12 weeks), driven by overall 11.5% equal unit volume gains and 1.0% average equal pricing decline.
Red Bull had 7.7% dollar sales growth this period driven by 5.1% equal unit volume gains and 2.4% average equal pricing as its new pricing went into effect at the beginning of January.
“Red Bull had higher dollar sales in the c-store channel than Monster for the first time since August, which we attribute to its pricing growth and new innovation,” noted Bonnie Herzog, managing director for beverage, tobacco and convenience store research.
Meanwhile, carbonated soft drinks saw moderate sales compared ot last month as volume weakens.
Total carbonated soft drink (CSD) (excluding-Energy) dollar sales in the U.S. c-store channel were up 1.2% (+1.7% for prior 12 weeks) during the four-week period ended Jan. 17, 2015, Wells Fargo Securities LLC reported.
The uptick was driven by strong average equal price growth of 5.2%, offset by equal unit volume declines of 3.8%.