US spirits sales fell again in October, according to the latest sales data from the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association (NABCA).
Spirits volumes dipped 0.8% in October against the same month last year to 5.2 million nine-litre cases. Dollar sales were down 2.1% at $1.14bn.
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In the 12 months to the end of October, volumes declined 1.1% to 60.7m nine-litre cases. Sales by value decreased 2.2% to $13.34bn, the association said.
The NABCA data covers 18 control states in the US, including off- and on-premise sales.
According to the data, volume sales of cachaca, cocktails, cordials, Irish whiskey and Tequila rose in October.
The volume sales of Irish whiskey increased “after many months of decline”, NABCA said, growing 1.9% in the period to 81,651 nine-litre cases. Tequila volumes increased 2.2% to 597,216 nine-litre cases.
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By GlobalDataHowever, the dollar sales of Irish whiskey and Tequila fell in October. Irish whiskey booked a 0.7% decline at $28.1m, while Tequila saw sales volumes drop 1.4% in the period to $209.9m.
Across the 12-month period, cocktails and Tequila were the only categories to see sales rise in value and volume terms. All other product areas saw sales drop year on year.
When accounting for figures on a 12-month rolling basis, the spirits sector “remains under pressure”, NABCA said.
Nearly all of the 18 control states that NABCA monitors saw spirits sales drop in the period.
Despite the spirits sector’s “overall softness”, the association said there was “a modest bright spot” in the on-premise sales channel in October, with volumes growing 0.6% to 823,268 nine-litre cases across 14 states. Sales volume, however, was still down 1.6% at around $200m.
On-premise spirits volumes and dollar sales were also down on a 12-month rolling basis by 0.8% and 2.5% respectively.
