Polish on-trade trends: Which brands improved their position in Q2 and who was left behind?

Our Market Meter tool is updated every quarter to provide our clients with up-to-date on-trade data so they can measure market trends and react to opportunities. This time we’ve set our sights on the Polish on-trade channel to find out which brands gained the most in terms of numeric distribution, i.e. the percentage of on-trade outlets that stock and sell each individual brand.

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The source of our on-trade data

This research is based on Market Meter data and numeric distribution of brands on the Polish on-trade market. The full version of Market Meter includes data on pricing levels, weighted distribution and more indicators on the level of country, category or region. In Poland, it also includes information on Hot Zones, one of our flagship custom projects popular with our clients. 

You can access the free version of Market Meter called Free Market Report with the overall numeric distribution numbers. 

GO TO FREE MARKET REPORT

This article serves as a short summary of the most important facts seen on the level of brands. In our Free Market Report, you will see not only brands but also specific products in detail. Note that numbers in this summary are aggregated for all products under a certain brand (e. g. Pepsi includes classic Pepsi, Pepsi Max etc.).

If your brand or product is missing from this article, you will most likely find it in the Free Market Report. Look it up to see how you’re doing in comparison to your competitors. 

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Our methodology

In order to identify the brands that have gained the most in terms of on-trade distribution in Q2, we have compared the change in the on-trade numeric distribution of each brand between Q1 and Q2. Our winners are the brands which managed to increase their numeric distribution the most in percentage points between Q1 and Q2.

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Beer on-trade winner

The winner among beer producers is Perła, the flagship beer of the Perła – Browary Lubelskie. Its numeric distribution rose by 1.74% to 7.83% of the total numeric distribution in Poland.

Second place goes to Pilsner Urquell (Kompania Piwowarska). The Czech beer brand rose by 1.10% to 16.59%. Third place is also held by a beer from Kompania Piwowarska called Hardmade with a positive change of 1.06% and a total numeric distribution of 5.13% in the second quarter of 2022. 

Clearly, the winners are less distributed / niche brands which are building their position in the market.

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The king of on-trade soft drinks 

Carbonated soft drinks saw a clear winner in Pepsi (PepsiCo) with a 1.5% increase in its numeric distribution to 34.63%. The second place is held by water Kropla Beskidu (Coca-Cola) with a gain of 1.26% for a total of 15.93%. And the third place goes to FuzeTea (Coca-Cola) with a gain of 1.18% and a total of 19.11%. 

Kudos to Pepsi for sustained growth in the distribution of an already-established global brand.

Notably, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola saw the highest gains in contrast to the rest of the market which was mostly stagnating or downright declining. Looking at the big picture, the Coca-Cola company is still dominating the market with an almost 12% lead on PepsiCo. Their flagship products (Coca-Cola and Pepsi) are separated in an almost identical manner. 

The continuous gains of PepsiCo and Coca-Cola in contrast to smaller brands’ decline suggest a gradually consolidating market in the soft drink category.

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The spring & summer spirit(s)

With the spirits category being fragmented as it is, we will list just the winners in each category here. 

‍Important notice: The following numbers are based on the actual Market Meter data. The Free Market Report will give you different numbers as the results there are shown on the aggregated outlet base of the whole spirits category of 38,310 outlets.  

In SharpGrid Market Meter we split spirits into subcategories like vodka or gin and measure against the relevant outlet base of each subcategory. For example, “Roku” rose by 2.14% in Market Meter but only by 0.46% in Free Market Report as the sample encompasses the whole spirits category and is therefore much bigger. 

This only applies to the spirits category. Beer and non-alcoholic beverages yield the same results in both Free Market Report and Market Meter.

The Free Market Report will still give you an indicative estimate of how each brand is doing. But for a more detailed and accurate view, you’d need the full version of Market Meter.

• Gin: Roku by Stock (+2.14%)
• Liquers: Jägermeister by CEDC (+0.76%)
• Mixed drinks: Piňa Colada (+2.6%)
• Rum: Captain Morgan by Diageo (+1.41%)
• Tequila: El Jimador by Brown Forman (+1.17%)
• Vodka: Żołądkowa by Stock (+2.08%)
• Whiskey: Tomatin by Tomatin (+0.55%)

But there is one brand that doesn’t belong to any of the major categories which has a big lead over all the others - Metaxa with 4.45% numeric distribution gain. The amber-colored liqueur is therefore the top performer in the spirit category in Poland.

Although Piňa Colada gained a lot in terms of numeric distribution, it is still lagging behind more popular cocktails. If you’re interested in what is the most popular cocktail in Poland and in various voivodeships, read our in-depth analysis of the Polish cocktail scene based on our Market Meter data. 

To sum up: The total Q2 winners among brands in the Polish on-trade market are: Perła (beer), Pepsi (soft drinks) and Metaxa (spirits). 

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So there you have it, the state of the Polish market in Q2 2022 on a silver platter. We will publish similar research soon once the Q3 data is ready to go so stay tuned and check our blog or Free Market Report from time to time. If you’re on our mailing list, we will notify you via email.

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SharpGrid is a data & tech company reinventing market research in the on-trade channel. The on-trade channel consists of POSs (points of sale) like restaurants or bars where food & beverage is bought and consumed, and is often also called HoReCa, on-premise, food service, out-of-home, gastro or immediate consumption (IC) channel, hospitality or on-licence.