STOCKPORT, Eng. — CGA by NIQ’s new On Premise Measurement (OPM) service in Canada has opened up insights into the market not previously reported on, including valuable comparisons with trends across the border in the U.S., all under one consistent reporting to help tailor strategies to the two territories.
For nearly a decade, OPM has been the U.S. industry standard for brand owners to track their share of the channel. Now launched in Canada, CGA by NIQ brings a new data set for the beverage-alcohol industry to track sales out of the channel to consumers, capturing final purchases made rather than shipment reporting across select provinces all while including competitive information at every level of reporting.
The two OPM datasets are now aligned in the same monthly reporting periods, revealing similarities and differences between the two markets. Here are five data highlights:
More variety in spirits in Canada
- Spirits volumes have declined in Canada by 4.1 per cent versus a year ago, which is slightly less than decreases reported in the U.S. (8.4 per cent). However, assortment of spirits categories in Canada present growth opportunities for suppliers.
- In the U.S., vodka, tequila and whiskey make up 70 per cent of total sales, but the figure is notably lower in Canada at 51 per cent. This means volumes are spread across more spirits segments, with consumers choosing a greater variety. Despite Canadian and U.S. spirits drinkers having a similar amount of categories in their repertoire, sales patterns highlight differences in each market.
Tequila is the fastest-growing segment
- Tequila has been the biggest growth category in both markets in the last year. But while it commands 22 per cent volume share of total spirits in the U.S., it only represents 15 per cent in Canada. Value sales over the last 52 weeks are up by six per cent in Canada, while in the U.S., the category is trending down 3.4 per cent. Over time, tequila consumption in the on premise has made its presence felt in Canada, following it’s fast-paced take-off in the U.S.
Growth in beer imports
- Canada’s beer volumes have dropped slightly in the last 12 months, by 1.5 per cent and 6.2 per cent in the U.S. However, imports have bucked the downward trend in both Canada and the U.S. Imports now take 25 per cent of volumes in Canada, having gained 0.7 percentage points of share in the last 12 months, while imports in the U.S. takes 20 per cent of share and gained 0.8 percentage points. As CGA’s recent analysis of the market indicates, the appetite for imports correlates with a trend of choosing quality over quantity in the on premise, as well as the impression that this category offers excellent value for money.
Draft dominates in Canada
- While draft beer has a 52 per cent share of volume in the U.S., it’s much higher in Canada at 70 per cent. As draft is a more popular serve in Canada, this also comes with the wider range of draft serve options that are made available to consumers compared to U.S. markets. Additionally, looking at CGA by NIQ’s On Premise User Survey (OPUS) across both countries, Canadians have an 11-per-cent increase in preference for beer served on draft (41 per cent) compared to U.S. consumers (30 per cent).
Gin and rum outperform in Canada
- While the U.S. spirits market is top heavy with the three largest segments of vodka, tequila and whiskey, other options command a bigger piece of the category in Canada. These include gin, which has a 14 per cent share of total spirits volumes in Canada, much larger than the figure of four per cent in the U.S. Another being rum, which also has a 14 per cent share in Canada compared to 10 per cent in the U.S. While rum’s volumes are falling, it has been notably more resilient in Canada than the U.S., with respective volume declines of 2.1 per cent and 11.9 per cent over the last 12 months.
There are clear and distinct category performance differences across Canada and the U.S. While it’s easy to use the U.S. as a benchmark for performance in Canada, OPM highlights the need for Canada-specific market measurement to unlock market-level opportunities in the channel.