Spirits sales in the US fell in value and volume terms in February, according to the latest NABCA figures.
US spirits volumes declined 1.1% to 61.1m nine-litre cases in the year to the end of February, according to figures released by the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association (NABCA). Sales value ticked down 0.8% to $13.6bn, the association said.
The NABCA data covers 18 control states, including off- and on-premise sales.
Comparing February to the same month last year, volume sales fell 4.4% to 4.3m cases, contributing to a 5.5% decrease in sales by value to $945.2m.
NABCA suggested the steeper fall in the value of sales meant drinkers either moved to lower-priced options or promotions were “more prevalent” in February.
According to the association, a “significant factor” for February’s sales was the number of selling days versus a year earlier.
NABCA said there were nine fewer selling days compared to the previous year, with most of the states it monitors having one fewer day.
Michigan and New Hampshire had the same number of selling days, while Utah had six more.
Robert Moskow, an analyst at TD Cowen, said the US investment bank estimates sales fell 3.3% in February when adjusted for selling days.
“We view the worsening trend in this discretionary category as further evidence of weakening consumer confidence and a signal of further downside risk to Diageo’s and Brown-Forman’s sales forecasts,” Moskow said.
TD Cowen estimates the NABCA numbers account for 20-25% of the US spirits market.
Tequila and cocktails were the only categories to see value and volume sales rise in the 12 months to the end of February.
Some 6.97m cases of Tequila were sold during the period, the NABCA data showed, up 5.7% on a year earlier. Value sales increased 6.8% to $2.52bn.
Volume sales of cocktails increased by almost a quarter to 4.4m cases, leading to $364.1m of the products being sold, 21.5% higher than in the previous 12 months.
The value sales of Canadian whisky inched up 0.9% to $951.9m, although volume sales dipped 1.4% to 4.3m cases.
