The Manitoba Market
There has never been a better time to be a beverage alcohol producer in Manitoba! We’ve collected some statistics that might help put things into context for you.
From August 2017 through to and including July 2018, 73.9 million litres of beer were sold in Manitoba compared to 11.9 million litres of wine; a difference of a whopping 520%!
In Manitoba, Canadian macro-produced beers have the majority of all beer litre sales 73.7%, down 5.9% from last year (79.6% in 2016) and 81.5% in 2015. The fastest growing beer segment in the province is that of craft-style beer which, in recent years, has exploded in both sales and interest.
In Manitoba, Canadian craft style beers have approximately 10% of the beer litre sales and have increased +7% in dollars and +3% in litres over last year.
Local craft breweries are launching with regularity to Manitoba. Today there are about a dozen local producers. These breweries continue to represent 3.6% of Manitoba’s total beer litre sales and are +16% in dollars and +10% in litres.
In Manitoba, spirit sales at the end of December 2018 were $246.6 million and trending up 1% in dollars and flat in litres. Premium spirits (mid-range, well-known, well-established brands) snag the largest piece of the pie with 59.01% of sales ($145.5 million). They are followed by economy spirits with 20.88% of sales ($51.5 million) followed by deluxe spirits (higher-end and niche brands), with 20.11% of sales ($49.6 million).
In terms of type, whisky continues to dominate in Manitoba with a 37% share of all spirit sales. Currently, the hot spirits within the whisky category showing excellent growth are Bourbon (up 24% in dollar sales) and Irish Whisky (up 17% in dollar sales).
Other areas of growth:
- Flavoured Vodka – Deluxe priced is up 11% in dollar sales
- Flavoured Rum – Deluxe priced is up 18% in dollar sales
- Gin – Deluxe priced is up 17% in dollar sales
- Blended and bottled in Canada (BBIC) and US table wines are the two largest segments within this category. They represent a combined value of $56.4 million, encompassing 4.9 million litres.
- BBIC, while soft in sales (2.08%), is over-indexed relative to Canada-wide sales by volume with a healthy category index of 114%. Based on December 2018 sales, Manitoba outperformed the market with a growth rate of 0.9% compared to market growth rate of 4.5%.
- USA table wines, while also soft in sales (4.7%), also has a healthy category index of 99%. Based on Dec 2018 sales, Manitoba again outperformed the market with a growth rate of (4.3%), compared to market growth rate of (9.0%).
- Sparkling wines continues to evolve from a special occasion beverage to an everyday beverage. Category sales are strong with $7.8 million, delivering a positive growth rate of0.35%. Prosecco continues to drive category growth.
- Top four wine growth categories between April 1, 2018 – February 12, 2019 are Italy (4.9% dollar sales growth), New Zealand (4.5% dollar sales growth), France (4.1% dollar sales growth) and Spain (3.9% dollar sales growth).
- Impulse or alternative smaller size formats less than 750ml continues to outpace category growth rate with year-over-year sales growth of 4.1%. This is attributed to providing consumers with a convenient trial format option, as well as a portion controlled consumption format.
- Rose continues to gain everyday traction as it endures to transition from a summer month beverage to that of an everyday consumption choice, with year-over-year sales growth of 11.3%.
- Cask or box wine representing 3-4 litre size formats continues to outpace category growth rates. Sales also suggest that consumers are becoming premiumized within the category, since dollar sales are outpacing litre sales by 73.6%.