As we state in our earnings release, some of the information we discuss, and that may come up on this call reflects the company's or management's expectations or predictions of the future. Beyond beer continues to outperform traditional beer in volume in measured off-premise channels with an increase of about 3% for the quarter compared to traditional beer, which slightly declined. Angry Orchard and Dogfish Head have now experienced four consecutive quarters of growth. We continue to make strong progress on our margin enhancement initiatives, delivering 49.3% first quarter gross margin, and we're on track to achieve our planned full year 2026 savings.
The business is generating strong cash flow, and we have repurchased over $30 million in shares year to date. With respect to our full year outlook, we expect the factors that I discussed on our last call, including tighter consumer budgets, pressure on the Hispanic consumer, and moderation trends to continue. We expect to slightly increase our total portfolio shelf space this spring while we continue to make progress on regaining lost display space. On a combined basis, Twisted Tea and Sun Cruiser delivered depletion volume growth in the first quarter.
As a reminder, to the extent that Sun Cruiser sources volume from Twisted Tea, this is revenue and margin accretive for us. Lastly, we continue to increase our investment in Hispanic and Hispanic language brand content, including new media and digital content, to continue to widen the brand's appeal. We expect these offerings to broaden drinker occasions and support strong growth in 2026. Turning to hard seltzer, the overall hard seltzer category has continued to improve and grew slightly in dollars in measured off-premise channels for the first quarter.