Yahoo Finance Fever-Tree overtakes Schweppes as top tonic water in US
Fever-Tree has seen its spirits rise in the US after overtaking Schweppes to become America’s top tonic water brand.
The London-based tonic and mixer maker today announced strong double-digit revenue growth in the US, with sales doubling since 2019.
Just over three after setting up its US operations, Fever-Tree is now the number one Ginger Beer brand in America.
The company finished 2021 by snapping up 26% of the US retail tonic water market share, compared to Schweppes’ 25%. It overtook the tonic giant for the first time ever in the final four weeks of 2021.
Tim Warrillow, CEO of Fever-Tree, said: "Most notably we finished the year as the No.1 Tonic Water brand by value at US retail, which is a significant achievement, matching an accolade that we have held in the UK for a number of years."
The drinks mixer manufacturer saw its total revenue grow by 23% in the year after capitalising on the trend of people making long mixed drinks at home during the pandemic.
A successful marketing campaign and new product innovations in the US saw steady gains year-on-year, with the company’s 2021 sales up 24% against 202 and 97% vs. 2019.
Since the relaxation of Covid restrictions at the tail end of 2021, Fever-Tree’s on-trade sales in the UK - sales to bars and restaurants - increased by 59%. This was achieved despite the emergence of the Omicron variants towards the end of the year.
Fever-Tree’s off-trade market share in the UK now stands at 39.8%, underpinned by the increasing popularity of the use of long mixed drinks at home.
Throughout all regions, the company estimates its revenue will grow to between £355 million and £365 million in 2022 because of “the momentum the Group has built in our key markets”.
Warrillow added: “The group continues to deliver impressive growth in every one of our key markets, however, I am of course mindful that short-term logistics challenges and cost pressures remain, along with On-Trade restrictions, albeit at a much lower level than this time last year.
Fever-Tree shares fell today by 160p to 2,221p, down 6.1%.
