Good morning. I'm Debra Crew, and I am delighted to be here today to have the chance to introduce myself to many of you who may not know me. I joined the board of Diageo just over 18 months ago, serving as a non-executive director, and was impressed by what I saw. Much so that when Ivan offered me the opportunity to become more involved in the company, I jumped at it. When Deirdre retired at the end of June, I stepped off the board, and I became President of Diageo's North American business. As you can see from my background, I have spent my career working in the consumer products industry. Most recently, I was President and CEO of Reynolds American, and prior to that, I had roles at PepsiCo, Kraft, Nestlé, and Mars.
Despite joining in such unusual times, I have truly enjoyed my first four months leading the North American business, and I have been able to, at least remotely, get to know our people, our distributors and customers, and other key external partners. I am both humbled and proud to lead such a talented and dedicated group of Diageo associates, particularly in the face of such a challenging operating environment over the last few months. I want to use today's presentation to give you a perspective on how I see the U.S. market opportunity, share my first impressions of Diageo's North American business, set out my plans for emerging stronger from the crisis, and I'll focus mainly on the U.S. and spirits, given its size and scale.
As you know from our AGM statement at the end of September, our U.S. business has been performing strongly in fiscal 2021 and ahead of our expectations. We are scheduled to provide our next update on our fiscal 2021 performance at our interim results in January. The U.S. total beverage alcohol market is large, around $170 billion, and it's growing. Growth is being driven by favorable market demographics and a strong premiumization trend. You can see from this chart that for the last decade, the spirits category has been consistently growing faster than beer and wine, increasing its share of the TBA market from 32% in 2010 to 39% in 2020. Despite this trend, spirits penetration remains relatively low. According to the latest data from Numerator, household penetration in the U.S. is at 54%.
This compares to 67% for wine and 75% for beer, which creates an exciting opportunity for our business. In 2020, household penetration for spirits has increased at nearly three times the rate of beer and two times the rate of wine. This trend has accelerated during COVID-19 as people moved more of their consumption of alcohol to lower tempo at-home occasions, including cocktail making at home and enjoying spirits with food more frequently. Diageo's household penetration has been increasing steadily over the last five years, and we are incredibly proud of the fact that nearly one in three U.S. households has purchased a Diageo product during 2020. Over the last decade, the U.S. spirits market has been consistently premiumizing. The growth of premium plus price tiers has been outpacing the growth of the standard tier, and the value segment has been declining.
The tier that has been gaining significant share of spirits is super premium plus, and you can see that trend has continued during COVID-19. The super premium plus tier has reached approximately 47% share of the U.S. spirits market in 2020. You can see from the chart on the left side of the slide that the U.S. market continues to be very resilient during COVID-19. In part, this is due to the structure of the U.S. market. Even before COVID-19, approximately four out of every five drinks were being purchased in the off-trade channel. Growth in the off-trade channel accelerated when bars and restaurants were closed, and this growth has remained strong even as the on-trade channel partially reopened. You can see the overall U.S. spirits market grew strongly during the first quarter of fiscal 2021.
In the first couple of months of COVID-19, we did see that the on-trade channel closure caused a slowdown in price mix growth in Q4 of our fiscal 2020. This was the effect of an adverse channel mix, combined with some pantry loading of larger bottle sizes in those initial weeks of lockdown. However, you can see that premiumization has since recovered and accelerated above pre-COVID-19 levels during the first quarter of fiscal 2021. We would expect this long-term trend to continue in the U.S. spirits market. You can see from the charts on this slide, which shows data to the end of calendar year 2019, that younger adult multicultural consumers are driving growth in the U.S. spirits market. This gives us a natural tailwind for long-term growth.
Over the next five years, more than 80% of the growth in the legal drinking age population in the U.S. is set to come from multicultural consumers. More than ever, we're seeing this diverse and younger adult cohort of consumers coming into our brands, both in our new to the world brands, as well as into our long-established brands that have unrivaled heritage and provenance. This is particularly true for many of our fastest-growing brands, such as Casamigos and Bulleit, which over-index with younger adult multicultural consumers. Despite being the market leader in U.S. spirits, Diageo today has only 6% of total beverage alcohol share in the U.S. This shows a significant growth opportunity for our business over time.
You can see from the chart on the right that our spirits portfolio has been taking TBA share in recent years, and we expect this trend to continue. We take a disciplined approach to portfolio management. In the last few years, we have made a number of disposals, including Bushmills Irish Whiskey, our U.S. wine business, and 19 brands that we sold to Sazerac. These actions enable us to focus on our premium plus brands and increase our presence in fast-growing categories. We are also delivering our premiumization strategy through acquisition. This includes Don Julio and Casamigos in the super-premium tequila category and, most recently, Aviation in the super-premium gin category. What I see as another real strength of our U.S. portfolio is our impressive breadth and scale across categories. These charts also show that the mix of our portfolio has significantly changed over the last five years.
As an example, North American manufactured whiskeys are now larger than vodka and rum combined. Our investment in the tequila category has been another key growth enabler in recent years. In fiscal 2020, organic net sales of Don Julio grew 26% and Casamigos grew 68%. The strong performance of these brands has established tequila as a significant category within our portfolio. U.S. whiskey, Canadian whiskey, tequila are three of the fastest-growing categories in the U.S., and we see an exciting runway for further growth. Diageo is the largest whiskey company in the U.S., with 22% share of all whiskey categories. Our portfolio is also one of the fastest-growing, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 9% in the last two years. This reflects consistent and effective A&P investment, supported by strong innovation.
Crown Royal is a great example of our success in using consumer insights to consistently build brand equity and launch new incremental variants. We've been successful in recruiting new legal drinking age consumers and taking the brand into new occasions. Importantly, our whiskey portfolio has increasingly broad consumer appeal over-indexing to younger adults and multicultural consumers versus TBA. As examples, Crown Royal over-indexes with African American consumers. Bulleit over-indexes with the 25 to 44-year-old consumer. Buchanan's also over-indexes with that age cohort, in addition to having a strong Hispanic consumer base. Johnnie Walker over-indexes with Asian and Hispanic consumers. Diageo has the fastest-growing tequila portfolio in the U.S. While we are still a small player with only around 10% of category share, this offers an exciting opportunity for future growth.
NABCA shows our tequila brands growing at a compound annual growth rate of 43% over the last two years, which added 320 basis points of market share. We continue to invest strongly behind Don Julio, Casamigos, and DeLeón and are excited to be adding the Astral Tequila and Sombra Mezcal brands that were recently acquired as part of the Davos acquisition. Our focused investment in A&P innovation and M&A has established a strong portfolio of premium plus price brands, which reaches across multiple categories. There are some great examples on this slide. I see the strength of our innovation capabilities as a real differentiator for our business. It has been a key enabler to recruiting and re-recruiting consumers into our portfolio. Great examples of our successes in recent years have been Crown Royal Regal Apple, Vanilla, and Peach, Ketel One Botanical, and White Walker by Johnnie Walker.
Innovation will remain a key growth driver. Later in the presentation, I'll give you a preview of some of our fiscal 2021 launches. It's important to note that many of our fastest-growing variants today, like Crown Royal Regal Apple and Bulleit Rye, are innovations we developed. You can see from this slide that we have built a portfolio that is well-balanced for sustainable growth. Our core brands, which include Crown Royal, Smirnoff, and Captain Morgan, make up around 55% of our sales and in aggregate have been growing at a combined annual growth rate of around 4.6%, slightly below the overall spirits market growth rate. Around 40% of our sales come from our growth brands, such as Don Julio and Baileys.
In aggregate, these brands are growing significantly ahead of the U.S. market and really drive our share and top-line growth. The smallest component of our sales comes from our nurture brands. While these brands, such as Roe & Co and George Dickel, are small contributors to our business today, they fit into dynamic areas of spirits category growth. We expect the investment we're making now and in coming years to build these brands to be the next generation of growth drivers for our business. We have seen significant acceleration in the growth of Diageo Beer Company since 2017. This reflects the rapid growth in the U.S. total malt market over that time, and Nielsen shows that both our Guinness and Smirnoff ready-to-drink portfolios have successfully gained share in the off-trade total malt market over that period. We have driven this through increased investment behind A&P and innovation.
Our consumer-led innovation has responded to two seemingly contradicting trends: holistic well-being and indulgence. The launch of our Smirnoff Spiked Sparkling Seltzer range was a response to consumers looking for a lighter choice. While our Smirnoff Ice Smash range responds to consumers wanting to also enjoy indulgent adult treats. These brands, which were launched in 2017, have been extremely successful, and they now account for a significant percentage of total Diageo Beer Company net sales value. We have significantly grown our presence in convenience stores and large chains, which have become increasingly important channels during COVID-19. We have won retailer trust and expanded convenience facings by 19% and chain facings by 9% in the three months to October 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. Our Seltzer, Smash, and Red, White & Berry innovations all remain in double-digit growth after several years in market.
I'm sure at least a few of you are wondering how COVID-19 has impacted our overall ambition, investment strategy, and portfolio priorities. Our global performance ambition for Diageo hasn't changed. We want to be one of the best performing, most trusted, and respected consumer products companies in the world, and we have six strategic priorities that will enable us to achieve this. As Diageo's largest market, North America continues to be critical for performance delivery. With all of the opportunity and resilience we are seeing in the U.S. market, we want to ensure our business emerges even stronger than it was before COVID-19. We are building on the strength of our portfolio and putting strong A&P investment behind our brands. Of course, we want to do so smartly.
Having worked in a number of other consumer goods companies, I have been so impressed by the technology tools and the data we have at Diageo North America. We are leveraging the investments we have made over the last few years. As an example, with more consumers staying at home, we are using data and tools to deliver targeted messaging to consumers via social media, down to the zip code.
We combine this targeted messaging with data from our platforms such as EDGE to inform our activations at a store level to win in the most critical outlets. We are strengthening our position in the off-trade channel where shoppers are buying today, while also increasing investment in the fast-growing e-commerce channel. These investments, combined with our ongoing commitment to do business in the right way, will position us to deliver sustainable growth.
As many of you might remember from the North American president's call this time last year, Deirdre talked about investments we had made in technology that were enabling us to identify emerging consumer trends to inform our brand strategies. This was certainly helpful as we saw the impact that COVID-19 had on consumer behavior. This slide gives a flavor of the key consumer trends we've been seeing in recent months. While we saw some aspects of this pre-COVID, the trend of at-home occasions becoming more informal and spontaneous has accelerated. More than 2/3 of drinking occasions are spontaneous, up 10% since the start of the pandemic. An increased desire for convenience has been another key trend, in particular, the demand for pre-mixed cocktails, cocktail kits, cans, and e-commerce. Before the pandemic, less than one in three alcohol drinkers were even aware that they could buy alcohol products online.
Contrast this with July 4th this year, when one in three alcohol drinkers used an e-commerce platform to buy alcohol online. Consumers have been increasingly seeking reward and indulgence in recent months. In recent research, 40% of drinkers believe that this holiday season, they expect to splurge more than they would normally on alcohol for themselves or others in their household. Gifts for others also scored 40%. These percentages were higher than the scores for things like entertainment, decorations, and travel. Finally, there is no doubt COVID-19 has had a profound effect on communities. Consumers across North America have seen their neighborhood businesses and on-trade venues threatened, and they're figuring out how to sustain all areas of their lives, from careers, to family, to lifestyle, to relationships. Our socially conscious activations are more than just the right thing to do in the moment.
We see these as opportunities to build on our longstanding partnerships with the key custodians of our brands on the front line, bartenders, small business owners, and artists. In the context of the four key consumer trends that I've just highlighted, I'm now going to share a short video. I think it really brings to life how our brands have responded to the changed needs of consumers in 2020 and how we successfully pivoted our marketing activations.
During COVID, we've kept a finger on the pulse of consumer behavior, identifying ways for our brands to help provide comfort, utility, and service. With people at home more than normal, our brands have a great opportunity to add to the enrichment and enhancement of their lives. First and foremost, we introduced new recipes and experiences to be enjoyed at home. From education and learning.
The lady of the hour.
Everything is sick.
to using our brands in new hobbies like baking. We brought sports into their lives.
The nut bakes are coming in hot. Let's do this. Oh, he's got him. End zone. Touchdown. Stay hydrated and stay royal. Take a water break and moderate your drinking on game day.
Reminded them to have fun during the workday.
Hey, what's up, guys?
Oh, my God.
Why are you naked?
Oh, God.
For our LDA plus consumers, we've strived to make our brands accessible and enjoyable, no matter what they're doing. This ranges from e-commerce partner platforms to direct consumer cocktail providers and partners. Of course, by serving our brands in quality, ready-to-serve formats.
Our ultra-premium variants are helping people celebrate the big and small milestone moments happening each day, gifting to themselves and to those they can't be with in person. Alongside our premium brands providing delicious treat moments. Now, supporting causes and initiatives is more important than ever before, especially for those who have a personal connection. For Diageo, supporting the bartender and hospitality industries is vital to our brands and expected by our consumers.
Find a way to leave. Won't be back no more. When I'm taller.
The Bulleit Frontier Fund is making a commitment to help bartenders keep doing what they do best. Let's keep our bartenders pouring.
If you want me to stay, I'll be around today. Be available for you to see. I'm about to go. Let's make sure they stay. They don't know. Want me to stay here. I wish I could get the message over to you now. Oh.
As I mentioned earlier, innovation has been a key driver of growth. We will continue to use innovation to reach more consumers in more occasions. We are really excited about our pipeline for fiscal 2021, and there are some fantastic examples of recent and upcoming innovations on this slide. You can see that we are really expanding our portfolio of ready-to-drink offerings.
This includes ready-to-drink cocktails across our Tanqueray, Crown Royal, and Ketel One brands, which meet consumers' increased desire for convenient drinks in a portable format. In early 2021, we are launching Guinness Nitro Cold Brew Coffee, which marries the magic of Guinness Nitro with trending coffee culture and lighter, brighter drinking occasions. We are continuing to drive innovation across our other well-known brands, including limited editions to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Johnnie Walker.
Our recent launch of Captain Morgan Sliced Apple has had a terrific reception from consumers, and our seasonal LTO, Baileys Apple Pie, was the number one innovation in NABCA in September. We are excited to be launching Baileys Deliciously Light in January, which has 40% less sugar and calories than regular Baileys but still tastes delicious, so you won't be missing out.
The e-commerce channel for TBA in the U.S. has historically been very small, mainly due to regulatory restrictions and low consumer awareness. COVID-19 has really increased consumers' awareness of the channel and their comfort in using it, and as a result, there has been a significant acceleration in online demand for TBA. Drizly, the leader in alcohol e-commerce and delivery, has grown over 350% in 2020 compared to 2019.
Drizly predicts that 20% of off-premise alcohol purchases will be transacted online within the next five years, compared to less than 2% in early 2020. For the last few years, we have been investing to build our capabilities in this channel, and we have been establishing key partnerships that ensure our brands are well-positioned.
We have more than doubled our A&P investment in e-commerce in the last 18 months and increased the number of people working in this channel. Our e-commerce business has a more premium mix of brands, and the rate per case is typically 15%-25% higher than our business in brick-and-mortar. E-commerce consumers tend to be younger adult, more urban, and very interested in discovery, which lends toward whiskeys, tequilas, and higher-priced products.
Where we have data, our market share in this channel is 2-3 percentage points higher than our share in the brick-and-mortar channel. We will continue to invest strongly behind the e-commerce opportunity, and I believe we have the right capabilities and portfolio to win in this emerging channel. Prior to COVID-19, we had been continuously increasing our investment in A&P, both in absolute dollar terms and as a percentage of net sales.
We reduced A&P investment in the second half of fiscal 2020 when it wouldn't have been effective. However, we are recovering to accelerated investment levels in the first half of fiscal 2021 as consumer demand has strengthened, and we expect to see an effective return. We benefit from tools such as Catalyst in ensuring we invest with the most effective and efficient marketing mix to support growth.
We will also continue investing behind our capacity requirements as growth accelerates. Of course, we will do that in a way that supports our sustainability agenda. You may have seen the recent announcement regarding the new Bulleit distillery we are building in Kentucky, which will be one of the largest carbon-neutral distilleries in North America. As I've already mentioned, we are investing in smart brand acquisitions.
As we develop our portfolio over time, we will continue to look for opportunities to acquire fast-growing brands in exciting categories. We recently celebrated the conclusion of our highly ambitious 2020 sustainability and responsibility goals. Our 2020 targets were selected to align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and designed to cover Diageo's three main focus areas: reducing our environmental impact, building thriving communities, and promoting positive drinking.
Some of our key achievements by 2020 were halving greenhouse gas emissions across our business globally, a 50% absolute reduction, improving water efficiency by 46%, having over 99.5% of our packaging now recyclable, empowering 435,000 women through our community programs, and reaching 2 million people with moderation messages from our brands. We will be announcing the new Diageo targets to 2030 at the end of this month.
Promoting positive drinking is fundamental to our business at Diageo and an essential part of our performance ambition. In North America, we've already done work in this area, including Crown Royal's Water Break campaigns, which most recently were promoting responsible drinking during the NBA playoffs and in the NFL kickoff game. This month, we are relaunching DRINKiQ in North America, which now provides information to support the reduction of alcohol harm. We're also very proud of our inclusive and diverse culture.
However, there's always more work to do, and we continue to improve and advance our programs. Globally, at the end of fiscal 2020, 39% of leadership roles were held by women, taking us beyond the target we had set for 2020. 55% of our Diageo board members are women, and 38% of our executive committee are women. The North American executive team that I lead is composed of 50% women and is 20% ethnically diverse. You may also notice many of our brands are actively supporting inclusivity and promoting diversity in our industry and culture. In June, we announced a $20 million Diageo Community Fund to help address the disproportionate social and economic impact of the pandemic on Black communities and businesses. In August, the Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Baltimore introduced the beer Black Is Beautiful.
It was created by Weathered Souls Brewing, and it is a collaborative effort amongst the American brewing community and its customers to bring awareness to the injustices that many people of color face daily. Our new carbon neutral distillery in Lebanon, Kentucky, which is expected to be fully operational in 2021, will be powered by 100% renewable electricity.
We are really proud that Diageo has created the world's first-ever 100% plastic-free paper-based spirits bottle, which we announced at the start of FY 2021. The bottle is made entirely from sustainably sourced wood and will debut in early 2021 with Johnnie Walker. Here in North America, we are also contributing to packing sustainability, having recently removed virgin plastic from Seagram's 7 Crown bottles. From the end of June, these new 7 Crown bottles made from 100% recycled plastic became available on shelf.
The move is a first for the brand and for Diageo and will reduce the use of virgin plastic by almost 1,000 tons annually. Diageo North America is such an exciting business to have joined. Spirits is a vibrant and growing category, and as the market leader, Diageo is playing a key role in shaping and driving that growth. As you have seen from today's presentation, we have a portfolio of leading brands supported by best-in-class marketing capabilities and a strong innovation pipeline. Most importantly, we have a team of people in Diageo that have the talent, commitment, and energy to really drive our business forward. This is a powerful combination that I feel confident will enable us to emerge even stronger from this crisis and deliver long-term growth. I want to leave you with another short video which demonstrates the agility of the team I lead.
It's from our U.S. beer company, which arguably had to overcome the biggest challenge during COVID-19. Guinness has historically relied heavily on a robust on-trade channel, particularly on St. Patrick's Day. This team's pivot has been incredible and inspiring for all of us. Thank you all for listening, and I look forward to answering your questions shortly on our live Q&A call at 8:00 A.M. Eastern Standard Time or 1:00 P.M. GMT.