Dear Client: If Bill Newlands’ remarks at Bernstein’s Strategic Decisions Conference yesterday are any indication of what to expect for the Constellation’s fiscal Q1 earnings coming up in a month or so – well, it should be a beaut for beer. Although the Constellation chief reminded himself aloud that he had to be “mildly careful” … Continue reading “A Bright Forecast from Bill on Constellation’s Beer Biz”

Dear Client: How’d Memorial Day results fare for the beer industry? Clearly, it’s too soon to say.  But when we put feelers out about early result “gut checks,” we got a flurry of wholesaler responses — more than we’d expected to get so quickly. And so, with the caveat that this is a very early … Continue reading “Your Early, Early Memorial Day Read”

Could the narrative be shifting? Dear Client: Somebody named Cyndy at High Plains Budweiser told ABC News last week that the focus amid the Bud Light boycott should be on the pain suffered by the local independent wholesalers rather than the story being repeated of a foreign-owned corporation ‘going woke’.  “In the end, the people … Continue reading “A-B Distributors Speak Out”

Dear Client: We’ve come a long way from Constellation’s storied $1 billion purchase of Ballast Point almost 10 years ago.  The company wrote distributors this afternoon with news of the “strategic decision” to bring their “dedicated Craft & Specialty efforts to a close and transition our remaining brands from the portfolio” through several key changes, … Continue reading “Constellation Brings “Craft & Specialty Efforts to a Close,” Selling Craft Brands Back to Founders”

Dear Client: Since the start of the Bud Light ordeal in early April, we’ve charted the massive gains that Miller Lite and Coors Light have seen in scandata, which have so far been up somewhere around a 20%+ dollar gains clip.  But we perhaps haven’t spilled enough ink on another big beneficiary: Yuengling.  Indeed, in … Continue reading “In the Wake of Anti-Woke Beer Sentiments, Yuengling Soars”

Dear Client: As is custom ahead of Memorial Day, BBD performed its circular check-in for the holiday weekend to give you a feel on pricing heading into summer. In this particular spot check of weekly ads, we naturally kept a keen eye on A-B pricing, given the Bud Light controversy, its ill effects on A-B’s … Continue reading “Peeping Pricing in Memorial Day Ads”

Dear Client: At the start of this month, we pointed out how Modelo Especial joined Bud Light as the top-selling beer in NielsenIQ’s convenience channel during the four-week frame ending April 22 [see BBD 05-04-2023]. Checking in less than a month later, we see that Modelo Especial is now not only firmly in the top … Continue reading “Modelo Especial is King of Latest NIQ Beer Dollars”

Dear Client: Mark Anthony has retooled its marketing structure, BBD has learned, adding a new global Chief Marketing Officer, effective April 1.  “With this evolution, John Shea has left Mark Anthony, after successfully working in full support of this structural evolution over the past 3 years,” Mark Anthony Brands president Phil Rosse tells BBD.  “John … Continue reading “Mark Anthony Has New U.S. Marketing Leadership”

Dear Client: The beer industry is facing several major legal and regulatory challenges all at once, all the while going through tectonic market changes, including the convergence of bev-alc categories, the growing influence of digital marketplaces, and changes in the power dynamic between and among the three tiers, to name a few.   BMI scribe Chris … Continue reading “The (Legal) Consequences of Convergence”

Dear Client: The Center for Alcohol Policy just released the results of its latest “National Alcohol Regulation Sentiment Survey,” which is just as it sounds: a measure of public opinion on the state of alcohol regulations.  Every other year, the CAP surveys Americans on “ a wide variety of topics related to alcohol and its … Continue reading “Center for Alcohol Policy Survey: Adults Largely Happy with Alcohol Regulation Landscape”

Dear Client: Today, Anheuser-Busch is alerting wholesalers to some beyond beer discontinuations — and a craft sale — in order to “better focus and simplify” for growth. “Our industry is highly dynamic and has evolved rapidly over the past few years,” A-B brass — including CCO Kyle Norrington, Beyond Beer president Fabricio Zonzini, and The … Continue reading “For “Better Focus,” A-B Nixes Hiball and BABE, sells AMB back to founders”

Dear Client: During the first in-person meeting this year of the Molson Coors National Distributors Council, on May 4 in Denver, MC distributors learned more about the process the company will use when assigning its spirits products (including new bourbon line, Barmen 1873, and Five Trail American Whiskey). Brian Feiro, president of U.S. sales, laid … Continue reading “MC Unveils Spirits Route to Market Plans and Other Highlights from Distrib Council Meeting”

Dear Client: Hard MTN Dew is adding to its lineup this summer with the release of a new, limited-edition Baja Blast Variety Pack.  The “summertime exclusive” will feature the original Hard MTN Dew Baja Blast, and three new spins on the popular flavor, including Baja Blast Pineapple, Baja Blast Mango and Baja Blast Punch. All … Continue reading “Hard MTN Dew Releasing “Summertime Exclusive” Baja Blast Variety Pack”

Dear Client: Now more than a month into the Bud Light Backlash, latest scans for the week ending May 6, show that that trends aren’t getting much worse, but certainly not getting any better either. Declines for week five of this controversy turned-crisis, show that Bud Light dollars and volume were down 23.6% and 27.7%, … Continue reading “Latest Bud Light Numbers: Have Declines Hit their “Floor?””

A-B vows to win back ‘every single case’. Dear Client: A few distributors were going into this meeting with suspicions that A-B leadership would brush aside the Bud Light situation and proceed with business as usual. Those distributors shouldn’t have worried.  The Bud Light issue was presented first and foremost, and it colored each of … Continue reading “Bringing Bud Light Home”