Akerna Flash Report: Liquor Sales are Up 10% Year-over-Year

DENVER, June 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Business intelligence from Akerna (Nasdaq: KERN), a leading compliance technology provider and developer of the cannabis industry’s first seed-to-sale enterprise resource planning (ERP) software technology (MJ Platform®) in collaboration with *Ample Organics, shows year-over-year, liquor sales are up 10%. In terms of sales volume, red wine beats out premium beer and whiskey.

**Sales Leaders Based on Total Sales by Volume:

Red Wine 18%

Premium Beer 15%

Whiskey 13%

“We’ve talked a lot about the recession resilient nature of both the alcohol and cannabis industries. In April, at the height of the global COVID-19 pandemic, we reported Gin sales topped year-over-year sales growth in spirits with an increase of 55% in March,” said Ostap Rapeyko, business intelligence analyst, Akerna. “Now, at the mid-year point, it is interesting to see Gin sales have slipped, and red wine is emerging as the sales leader.”

In the last five months, Gin sales have slowed. In terms of percentage growth ready to drink beverages have seen the most significant increase, reaching 40% year-over-year.

“Anecdotally, the ready to drink market has been helped by the trend in lower-calorie beverages. Consider, for example, 123 calories are in a regular bottle of red wine, and 73 calories are in a bottle of Gin, a ready to drink beverage, with a single measure of Gin, contains as few as 54 calories,” said Rapeyko.

Going into the week before Father’s Day, June 14-21, data shows premium beer is the beverage of choice, with 18% of sales during a similar time frame in 2019.

**Sales Leaders Based on Total Sales by Volume Going into Father’s Day:

Premium Beer 18%

Red Wine 14%

Whiskey 12%

“While it’s no surprise premium beer is a market leader going into Father’s Day, what is interesting is red wine sales are greater than whiskey sales,” said Rapeyko. “At one time, whiskey was considered synonymous with Father’s Day. It was common to see things like whiskey gift-giving guides and sales offers related to Father’s Day. Now it seems, red wine is among the gifts of choice.”

About Ample Organics

In December 2019, Akerna announced its acquisition of Ample Organics. Founded in 2014, Ample Organics is adopted by more Canadian Licensed Holders than any other cannabis software solution. A complete ecosystem for cannabis businesses, the technology platform makes compliance easy by tracking individual plants from seed to consumer and reporting every detail of the growth, production, and sales processes. Ample’s team of cannabis industry and technology experts designed the platform to facilitate compliance and transparency while enhancing overall business efficiency and operational intelligence.

About Akerna

Akerna is a global regulatory compliance technology company. Akerna’s service offerings include MJ Platform®, Leaf Data Systems®, solo sciences, and Trellis. Since its establishment in 2010, Akerna has tracked more than $18 billion in cannabis sales. Akerna is based in Denver. For more information, please visit www.akerna.com and follow us on Twitter @AkernaCorp.

About The Akerna Flash Report

Flash Report is a look at buying trends in the cannabis market as captured by Akerna’s MJ Freeway subsidiary. MJ Freeway provides operators with MJ Platform, the industry-leading solution for regulatory compliance technology, from seed-to-sale-to-self. Some instances of the flash report may include business intelligence derived from Akerna’s family of companies, including Ample Organics, Leaf Data Systems, solo sciences, and Trellis.

**Data is derived from MJ Platform, the leading provider of cannabis compliance software for the marijuana industry. Reporting data is obtained from operators using Akerna’s MJ Platform solutions. Increases are relative to the prior period. Additional business intelligence data sources may include proprietary tools used by Akerna’s family of companies.

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