U.S. Beverages: Scanner update - Energy continues to drive growth

U.S. beverage category growth remained healthy at +4.9% in Q3 QTD, above +4.0% in Q2 but below +6.0% in Q1. Energy remains the industry's most attractive subcategory: KDP's Energy business grew +45.4%, Alani grew +44.8%, Pepsi's Energy portfolio grew +9.8%, and the core Monster brand grew +10.0%, versus +10.1% for the Energy category, continuing to outperform Soft Drinks (+2.3%) and most other beverage categories (+4.5% to +6.9%); Fairlife remained one of the strongest growth brands, up +23.9% versus category growth of +17.2%. For Coca-Cola, Fairlife reaccelerated to +23.9% growth and represented 11.6% of measured sales; Soft Drinks grew +5.7% and gained 120 bps of share; overall company sales grew +5.2% on +2.7% volume and +2.3% price. Pepsi continues to face portfolio challenges: Energy grew +9.8% and Sports Drinks +6.6%, but these were not enough to offset Soft Drinks at -0.5%, All Other Beverages at -5.5% and Foods at -0.8%;