Spirits New Product Registrations End Q4 Strong with 9.8% Growth

Across all categories, the number of 2022 registrations showed a 2.3% increase compared to 2021 

Winter brings cooler temperatures across the U.S., but beverage alcohol new product registrations are hardly cooling off. Spirits new product registrations led the way (+9.8%), followed by wine (+0.5). The beer/malt category for Product Registration Online (PRO) new product registrations* continued to show a gradual decline with a 2.5% year-over-year dip, but is showing continued quarter-over-quarter growth.

The following is a breakdown of new product registration data via PRO from the fourth quarter of 2022 (October, November, December) for spirits, wine and beer.

Spirits

Overall, spirits new product registrations increased 9.8% from this time last year and 90% over Q4 2022. Cocktails led the overall spirits category with 55% growth from 2021 to 2022, with tequila up 39% in that same time. Whiskey accounted for 34% of the total new product registrations in 2022, and had a 104% spike in Q4 year-over-year growth. Among other liquor new product registrations:

• Liqueur spiked 190% from Q4 2021.
• Brandy increased 70% from Q3 2022.
• Vodka saw a 34% jump in registrations from Q3 2022, but is down 5% year-over-year in 2022.

Wine

The number of wine brand registrations has steadily been increasing since 2019. The yearly growth is just 0.5% but the overall category had a 1.3% increase over Q3 2022 and saw a 53.3% leap from Q4 2021. The sparkling category lead the way in year-over-year growth at 15%. White wine and red and rosé registrations each had moderate yearly increases, at 9% and 6%, respectively. However, fruit and dessert wine (-13%) and saké (-9%) each saw declines compared to 2021.

Beer/Malt

Overall, beer/malt new product registrations are up 27% from Q3 2022. While the category saw a 2.5% drop year-over-year, there is continued quarter-over-quarter growth. For example, Q3 year-over-year growth (+4.8%) and Q4 year-over-year growth (+25.4%) were both positive. Specifically, the beer categories are up 4% year-over-year and saw a 39% increase quarter-over-quarter. While other malt new product registrations saw an 8% drop year-over-year, the category still increased 17% quarter-over-quarter and showed a 22% jump in Q4 2022 compared to Q4 2021.

*Product Registration Online (PRO) data encompasses nationwide label/brand registrations by PRO users. Product Registration Online processes some 100,000 state registrations annually.