The world's leading beer, spirits, wine and champagne brands could collectively lose up to $33 billion (€28 billion) worth of brand value as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new report from Brand Finance has found.
The Brand Finance Alcoholic Drinks 2020 report found that some drinks brands are likely to be affected more than others, largely due to the level of their exposure to the HoReCa sector.
Industry Impact
Wine and champagne brands are likely to face a 10% loss to brand value as a result of the pandemic, while beer brands could lose up to 20% of their value.
“We are witnessing mixed fortunes across the alcoholic drinks industry as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic," commented Richard Haigh, managing director, Brand Finance.
"On the one hand, the almost global lockdown and closures of bars and restaurants has resulted in the standstill of on-trade sales. Off-trade sales, however, in the supermarkets and bottle shops, have spiked as consumers shift towards consuming alcoholic drinks at home. It is yet to be seen whether this spike can offset the loss and therefore how brands will fare in the coming year.”
Beer, Wine and Spirits
The report also identifies the most valuable beer, spirits and wine/champagne brands with Corona coming out on top in the Beer category, with a brand value of $8.1 billion, however this is down 1.7% on the previous year.
Heineken, which is valued at $6.97 billion (up 2.6%) and Budweiser, which is valued at $6.44 billion (down 14.4%) also feature strongly.
“Despite AB InBev citing a drop in revenue for its global brands, including Budweiser, from the pandemic, the trend for consumers to pivot towards well-known brands rather than trying new beers stands the brand in good stead in the coming year compared to its lesser known counterparts," Haigh commented.
In Spirits, Chinese baijiu brands dominate the listings, with Moutai (which saw its brand value rise 29% to US$39.3 billion) in first, Wuliangye (up 30% to US$20.9 billion) in second and Yanghe (down 15% to US$7.7 billion) in third.
Cream liqueur brand Baileys is the fastest-growing spirits brand, the data shows, with a 103% increase in value year-on-year to $1.3 billon.
In Wines & Champagne, Moët et Chandon bubbles to the top with a brand value of $1.38 billion, closely followed by Chinese winery Changyu which is valued at $1.35 billion.
Brand Finance's annual Alcoholic Drinks report assesses 5,000 of the world's boggiest brands, with brand value defined as the 'net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market', according to the consultancy firm.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
