08-24-2012
IPAs continue to be on an absolute tear. $$ sales up 42.3% in Symphony IRI Group foodstores through Aug 5. The style has gained 3.5 share of $$ to become the #1 craft style, jumping to 18.1 share of segment (near 20 for 4 weeks) and easily passing Seasonals. Seasonals still growing at rock-solid double digit pace, $$ up 16% yr-to-date. But growth in Seasonals just can’t keep pace with IPAs. Seasonals at 16.8 share of segment $$ YTD, up 0.2.
Six of top 30 craft brands in SIG supers are IPAs and 4 of ‘em are growing faster than 42% pace for all IPAs. Sierra’ s Torpedo IPA up 52%, New Belgium’s Ranger IPA up 48%, Lagunitas IPA up 45% and Deschutes Inversion IPA up 43%. Those 4 brands were 30% of IPAs sold and got over 1/3 of IPA $$ share growth. The only leading IPA up single digits is Longhammer IPA from Redhook, up 7.4%. Stone still strong, but up a somewhat slower 25.7%. Also in separate list of top 50 craft packages are 6 packs of Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA up 27.6% and 4-packs of 90 Minute IPA up 35.9%. Those 2 combined about same size as Lagunitas IPA in supers.
Conspicuous in their absence: Boston Beer’s IPA offerings. Largest craft player has not heavily emphasized its IPAs. But Boston has had IPA Hop-ology variety pack in mkt for mos. Those sales included in Boston’s Variety Pack sales, a segment SIG reports separately, with about 10 share. Sam Adams has 30 share of Variety Pack $$ yr-to-date. Boston’s chief local competitor Harpoon has long led with an IPA but it doesn’t show up so much in scan, because most volume in home state Mass not scanned. Meanwhile, health of IPA style very widespread. Of those top 8 IPA, all but 1 had gained share of craft $$. But collectively they only represented about 45% of IPAs and a little more than 40% of IPA’s $$ share growth. A final sign of IPA’s current high status: newest book from BA is a history of and how-to-brew IPAs from Stone brewmaster Mitch Steele.
