• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, January 3, 2017

Ready-to-drink tea had the strongest unit and dollar growth of all major food and beverage categories in the U.S. for the 52 weeks ended Oct. 1, 2016, according to Nielsen.

The category, also termed “liquid” tea, saw growth of 14.4% and 19.5% in unit and dollar sales, respectively, in all U.S. grocery, drug, mass merchandiser and convenience stores, plus select dollar stores and warehouse clubs, and military commissaries.

RTD or liquid coffee — with unit sales up 13.8% and dollar sales up 14.6% — grabbed third position in Nielsen’s ranking of the top 10 food and beverage categories by dollar growth within categories with $500 million or more in annual sales.

These beverages, which include kombucha and other trendy cold-brewed varieties, “allow consumers to skip the drive-through and in-store lineups while still getting their daily caffeine fixes,” sum up Nielsen’s analysts. (Grand View Research has projected that the combined RTD tea and coffee market will grow to $116 billion by 2024, from $71.4 billion in 2015.)

The pairing of convenience and taste — particularly in combination with healthful ingredients — has never been more powerful than today, as is clear in most of the other categories that made Nielsen’s top 10. 

In second position, between RTD teas and coffees, is deli sushi, showing a 16.4% gain in dollars and 12.6% gain in units. 

This is a prime example of the surge in popularity of ready-to-eat, on-the-go meals from grocery stores’ ever-expanding “grocerant” offerings. Grocerants — which in some cases also include on-site, upscale, sit-down restaurants — saw their overall dollar sales jump 16.4% last year, Nielsen reports. 

Packaged lunch combination offerings (like cheese, crackers and cold cuts), at #4 (dollars up 14.4%, units up 13.4%), are undeniably convenience- and taste-driven. So are nutritional drinks, bars and supplements (dollars up 9.3%, units up 2.9%); and meat-packaged meals, at #10 (dollars up 8.7%, units up 9.7%).

Triple-threat health, taste and convenience categories on the list include cherries, at #6 (dollars up 9.6%, units up 3.3%); “value-added” (e.g. precut or peeled) fruit, at #7 (dollars up 9.4%, units up 3.9%); and value-added vegetables (dollars up 8.9%, units up 6.5%).

Also in the rankings, at #5, is the vinegar and cooking wine category (dollars up 11.8%, units up 6.6%). 

As with items like pre-cut vegetables, sales increases for these popular cooking and salad liquids are hardly surprising, given the increase in at-home meals in recent years.