Spirits grow 4% in Control States

Dear Client:Spirits volumes grew 3.6% in March in control states, whereas volumes grew only 0.2% in February, reports UBS analyst Melissa Earlam based on NABCA data. March benefited from easy comps of -5.2% year over year. Diageo lost some slight share in the month, although volumes grew 3.4%. It grew share in rum with volumes up 5.1% compared to category growth of 3.1%. It also gained share in cocktails (21.2% vs category 7.7%) and some momentum in Scotch (-3.2% vs