Top 50 consumables brands ranked by 2003 dollar sales

Drug Store News, May 17, 2004 by Michelle L. Kirsche

Top 50 consumables brands ranked by 2003 dollar sales ([dagger])

Brand                            $ sales   % growth

Coke Classic                      $181.6     -3.7%

Bud Light beer                     153.1       0.3

Pepsi                              131.6      -2.8

Budweiser                          128.6      -5.4

Diet Coke                          106.4       6.6

Miller Lite                         80.0      -0.4

Russell Stover gift boxes           72.4      -9.1

Planters snack nuts                 65.3       4.9

Diet Pepsi                          64.8       9.6

Sprite                              57.2      -7.2

Coors Light                         56.8       1.4

Mountain Dew                        53.6      -0.4

Corona Extra                        48.0      14.0

Dr Pepper                           46.2     -11.0

Gatorade shelf-stable               45.2       9.6

Smirnoff Spirits                    45.1      -0.4

Hershey's box/bag                   40.6      12.4

Natural Light                       40.0      -7.2

Whitman's Sampler gift boxes        35.0      -5.2

Russell Stover seasonal             34.1      -7.9
candy--Valentine's

Russell Stover diet candy           33.5      80.2

Miller Genuine Draft                32.1      -5.9

Heineken                            32.0       7.8

M&Ms box/bag                        31.9       2.0

Caffeine-free Diet Coke             31.2       4.1

Pringles potato chips              $31.2     -3.4%

Bacardi spirits                     30.8      -1.7

Busch                                 30      -6.4

Wrigley's Extra sugarless gum       28.9      -3.1

Aquafina                            28.6      10.4

Doritos                             27.9      13.0

Dasani                              27.9      11.1

Twizzler licorice box/bag           25.5       8.8

Folgers ground coffee               25.4      -0.3

Jack Daniels Black Label            24.9       0.8

Miller High Life                    24.9      -2.2

Russell Stover seasonal             24.5      10.8
candy--Easter

M&Ms single-serve                   24.3       5.2

Wrigley's Eclipse sugarless         24.1      10.2
gum

Carlo Rossi wine                    23.2     -10.7

Arizona iced tea                    23.1      42.5

Busch Light                           23      -7.6

Lays potato chips                   22.7       1.5

7UP                                 22.3     -18.2

Starburst                           21.9      21.7

Altoids breath freshener            21.9     -17.9

Franzia wine                        21.8       4.1

Red Bull energy drinks              20.8      54.6

Pedialyte Baby electrolytes         20.6       6.5

Hershey's Pot Of Gold gift box      20.5      16.5

Brand                            Comment

Coke Classic                     Sold in every U.S. state and
                                 territory by 1895, Coke Classic's
                                 dominance proves its taste is
                                 timeless.

Bud Light beer                   At 6.6 grams of carbohydrates, Bud
                                 Light qualities for a new low-carb
                                 claim.

Pepsi                            With 60 million consumers drinking
                                 both regular and diet soda, Pepsi was
                                 first to announce a mid-calorie
                                 carbonated soft drink.

Budweiser                        Ranks second to Bud Light in drug
                                 stores -- true even before all the
                                 low-carb hype began.

Diet Coke                        Health and wellness trends help boost
                                 sales of Diet Coke as an alternative
                                 to "indulgent" regular soda.

Miller Lite                      Miller Lite, launched in 1975, was
                                 the first successful low-calorie,
                                 low-carb beer.

Russell Stover gift boxes        Russell Stover proves that diet or no
                                 diet, chocolate is still a favorite
                                 among gift givers.

Planters snack nuts              Planters snack nuts are part of the
                                 intrinsically low-carb snack nut
                                 category, up 14 percent over 2002.

Diet Pepsi                       Keeping with the trend, the
                                 double-digit rise in Diet Pepsi more
                                 than off-sets the drop in regular
                                 Pepsi.

Sprite                           Sprite continues to reinvent itself,
                                 with its newest Remix flavor,
                                 Berryclear, which hit retail last
                                 month.

Coors Light                      With twice as many carbs as Aspen
                                 Edge, Coors Light is likely to lose
                                 share to its new lower-carb sister
                                 brew.

Mountain Dew                     LiveWire hit retail shelves in March
                                 after the citrus-flavored beverage
                                 added a 10 percent volume swing last
                                 summer.

Corona Extra                     Sales of Corona Extra helped the
                                 imports business capture 17.4 percent
                                 of category dollar sales in drug
                                 stores.

Dr Pepper                        Dr Pepper is reaching its 12- to
                                 34-year-old consumer through a
                                 collaboration with Nintendo.

Gatorade shelf-stable            Led by Gatorade, performance-enhanced
                                 beverages have experiences
                                 exceptional growth in the channel.

Smirnoff Spirits                 Smirnoff Ice came in 20th out of the
                                 top-20 selling packaged alcohol
                                 brands in drug, generating $6.8
                                 million.

Hershey's box/bag                Full-calorie candy continues to
                                 perform strongly, but Hershey
                                 recently introduced 1-gram Sugar
                                 Carb.

Natural Light                    Still a top beer brand for drug
                                 stores, but lost ground to imports
                                 and other light brews.

Whitman's Sampler gift boxes     Introduced in 1912 as the first boxed
                                 chocolate with a diagramed lid
                                 showing the filling in each candy.

Russell Stover seasonal          The top-selling seasonal candy brand
candy--Valentine's               in the top-selling seasonal category
                                 for drug stores.

Russell Stover diet candy        Russell Stover is the leader in the
                                 diet candy category, which was up 67
                                 percent at year's end.

Miller Genuine Draft             SABMiller captured a 17 percent
                                 dollar share in drug between its
                                 Miller Light, Miller Draft and Miller
                                 High Life.

Heineken                         While the low-carb craze continues,
                                 sales of Heineken were more than
                                 twice that of low-carb Michelob Ultra
                                 in drug.

M&Ms box/bag                     Played with its colors--including its
                                 no-color, black-and-white M&M
                                 promotion.

Caffeine-free Diet Coke          While the latest "frees" include
                                 sugar-free, carb-free and trans
                                 fat-free, caffeine-free continues to
                                 grow.

Pringles potato chips            Considered an indulgent snack,
                                 Pringles are still drug store
                                 consumers' No. 1 pick for chips.

Bacardi spirits                  Bacardi Silver is a leader in the
                                 malt-flavored beverage category and
                                 is attracting new consumers.

Busch                            Budget beer sales in the drug store
                                 channel, including Busch beer,
                                 captured 13 percent of dollars.

Wrigley's Extra sugarless gum    Sales of sugarless gum are up 8
                                 percent compared with a decline of
                                 nearly 6 percent in sales of regular
                                 gum.

Aquafina                         Driven by national brands like
                                 PepsiCo's Aquafina, sales of bottled
                                 water are booming in drug, up 16.2
                                 percent to almost $201.2 million.

Doritos                          First no trans fats, now low carb.
                                 Full-calorie Rolitos and new
                                 Guacamole Doritos also drive growth.

Dasani                           Bottled water continues to be the
                                 fastest-growing major beverage
                                 segment in the United States.

Twizzler licorice box/bag        Twizzler is capitalizing on the
                                 better-for-you movement by stating on
                                 its packaging, "As always, a low-fat
                                 candy."

Folgers ground coffee            A recent extension to the Folgers new
                                 18-pack coffee pods fit P&G's new
                                 Home Cafe brewing system.

Jack Daniels Black Label         One low-carb story that hasn't
                                 emerged yet: pure spirits like Jack
                                 Daniels' whiskey contain zero carbs.

Miller High Life                 Ads target men, touting: "To live
                                 simply, proudly, boldly, manly: This
                                 is the high life."

Russell Stover seasonal          Russell Stover led sales of seasonal
candy--Easter                    chocolate Easter candy in the
                                 category, up 7.2 percent in drug
                                 store channel.

M&Ms single-serve                Sales of chocolate candy weighing 3.5
                                 ounces or less were up more than 8
                                 percent in the drug store channel.

Wrigley's Eclipse sugarless      Wrigley announced first quarter sales
gum                              were up 13 percent driven in part by
                                 its Eclipse brands, including new
                                 Eclipse Mints.

Carlo Rossi wine                 Among drug chains that are still in
                                 the wine business, screw-tops tend to
                                 underperform in relation to the rest
                                 of the category.

Arizona iced tea                 Arizona recently added new,
                                 botanically brewed and no-carb green
                                 teas--and grew distribution
                                 considerably in drug stores in
                                 recent years.

Busch Light                      Value-priced light beer is not
                                 exactly a trend in beverages right
                                 now, as evidenced by sales of Busch
                                 Light.

Lays potato chips                Frito Lay North America re-launched
                                 its Lay's potato chips with an
                                 improved taste profile, new packaging
                                 and more targeted advertising.

7UP                              Lost some momentum in 2003 as the
                                 company looked for new bottlers in
                                 the wake of the Pepsi/Sierra Mist
                                 decision to give up distribution of
                                 7UP.

Starburst                        Masterfoods USA was one of several
                                 candy makers recently to explore new
                                 versions of old favorites, such as
                                 Starburst Fruit & Creme.

Altoids breath freshener         Definitely felt impact of heightened
                                 competition in mints as lookalikes--
                                 including private label--imitated its
                                 upscale tin package.

Franzia wine                     Sales of table wines like Franzia may
                                 continue to grow with new messages
                                 hitting consumers that most dry wines
                                 are naturally low in carbs.

Red Bull energy drinks           Like its tagline suggests, Red Bull
                                 "gives wings" to energy drink sales
                                 in drug stores, adding almost $13.5
                                 million incremental sales in 2003.

Pedialyte Baby electrolytes      Echo boom and drug stores'
                                 convenience factor have helped drive
                                 sales for baby products.

Hershey's Pot Of Gold gift box   The king of candy has made a
                                 successful play for the premium-
                                 priced gift box chocolates business.

Source: Information Resources Inc. For 52 weeks ended Dec. 28, 2003.
* All sales in millions ([dagger]) Excludes private label