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COPYRIGHT 2005 Bev-AL Communications, Inc.
The malt liquor category fell 5.4% in 2004 to 63.8 million 2.25-gallon cases. Malt liquor, the smallest beer category, has declined on an annual basis from its peak in the mid 1990's when the category nearly reached 120 million cases. The category, once associated solely with the urban market until its movement across a larger cross-section of beer consumers, has continued to lose cases to imports and ice offerings.
Colt 45 continued its run as the best-selling malt liquor brand in America, despite drops in consumption. The brand ended 2004 down 1.5% to 13.3 million cases. The decline last year was the smallest since the brand remained fiat in 2002, and far better than the brand fared at the turn of the century when Colt 45 was dropping at double digit rates.
King Cobra, the number two malt liquor, has been a mainstay in the category for more than two decades. It was Anheuser-Busch's second venture into malt liquor following the unsuccessful launch of Budweiser Malt Liquor in the early 1970's. Although the overall malt liquor market has continued to decline, King Cobra continues to fluctuate in the 12-to-13 million case range. The brand was the only leading malt liquor tracked to increase case sales last year. King Cobra grew 2.4% in 2004 to 13.3 million cases.
Olde English 800, once the category leader, has long been associated with the rap community due in part to Hip Hop artists singing about "O.E." malt liquor. The association led to increased popularity for the brand, and helped to propel case sales to more than 20 million cases. Then in 1997 cases sales for the brand started to decline. Last year, the brand fell 4.2% to 11.5 million cases. The level in 2004 was less than half of Olde English 800's case sales recorded in its peak year of the mid-1990's.
Schlitz Malt Liquor followed the leaders. The fourth best-selling malt liquor declined 9.9% last year to 8.2 million cases. All other leading brands tracked also fell in 2004.
As far as suppliers go Pabst still reigns supreme in the category. Pabst holds a 43.5% share among leading brands tracked with seven entries. Miller continues to be second with a 31.7% share of the malt liquor market. Anheuser-Busch rounds out the top three suppliers in the malt liquor category with a 23.4% share.
With the decreased popularity of malt liquor among consumers, advertising has followed suit. Colt 45 was the only brand to spend on advertising last year, and outlays for the brand were significantly smaller than the previous year. In 2003, Colt 45 spent $11,000 on advertising. That number decreased to $1,000 in 2004.
On a gender basis, malt liquor tends to be more popular among men (58.9%) than women (41.1%). From a brand basis, women tend to prefer Michelob Malt (58.7%) and Magnum (56.2%). Approximately 20.2% of malt liquor drinkers fall into the much sought after 25-to-34 year age group. Olde English 800 boosts...
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