Circana, an advisor on the complexity of consumer behavior, released new Circana Compass insights, providing a comprehensive update on the 2024 performance of the global retail food and beverage (F&B) industry and an outlook for 2025.

Store brands reached all-time highs in both unit and dollar share during the first six months of 2024, compared with the same period a year ago, according to new Circana sales data provided exclusively to PLMA.

For the global beverage market, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) seem to be the new normal. Based on 2023 fiscal year sales, this year’s Top 100 Beverage Companies report, compiled by the editors of Beverage Industry, has seen a collection of long-running entities exit the list as they merged or were part of an acquisition. Through this M&A activity, we have welcomed more thriving innovators across the alcohol and non-alcohol beverage markets.

Although convenience stores are facing challenges such as a decrease in commuting replaced by work from home, labor shortages and inflation, experts note that in-store sales are playing a key role in the channel’s growth.

Based on 2022 fiscal year sales, this year’s Top 100 Beverage Companies report, compiled by the editors of Beverage Industry, has seen a collection of long-running entities exit the list as they merged or were part of an acquisition.

During the first three months of this year, store brands picked up right where they left off in 2022, with double-digit sales increases and greater market share in both dollars and units, according to nationwide data provided exclusively to PLMA by Chicago-based Circana (formerly IRI and NPD).

Anne Scott Livingston, research analyst at Chicago-based Euromonitor International, notes that producers were forced to increase their milk prices due to a jump in input costs, which “have significantly strained category margins.” 

As the grab-and-go style of convenience stores has changed a bit during the past couple years, experts note that convenience stores still continue to perform well despite ever-changing needs of consumers.

Beverage Industry’s Top 100 Beverage Companies report, based on 2021 fiscal year sales, reflects the ebbs and flows that different factions of alcohol and non-alcohol beverage market experienced this past year.