Drinks launches set the pace in US

Out of all food and drink new product launches in the US that completed their first full year in 2018, drinks accounted for 8 of the top 10 in convenience stores, according to the latest IRI Pacesetters analysis.

The other 2 entries were confectionery launches, which also topped the supermarket rankings, where only Gatorade Flow on $78.1 million and Mountain Dew Ice on $59.9 million featured in the top 10.

Rising stars launched more recently and contending for the 2019 top 10 include Bubly water, Corona Premier beer, Eight O’Clock K-Cups coffee and Michelob Ultra Pure Gold beer.

As a reflection of increasing market fragmentation, it now takes less than $50 million of sales to reach the top 10, whereas the threshold used to be $70 million. Most of the top 100 now sell less than $20 million in their first full year. More of today’s entries are new brands rather than brand extensions, though larger companies still dominate the tables.

PepsiCo and General Mills each owned 7 of the 2018 top 100.