Dear Client:  News is crossing the wires this morning that Keurig Dr Pepper is investing $50 million into Athletic Brewing Co., providing KDP with a minority equity stake in Athletic, and a seat on its board of directors. It’s part of a $75 million total Series D round, where over 25 of their existing investors … Continue reading “KDP Takes Minority Equity Stake in Athletic Brewing Co. with $50 Million Investment”

Dear Client:  After news hit that Tilray was buying 50,000-barrel, New York craft powerhouse, Montauk Brewing Co., we immediately angled to get Tilray chief Irwin Simon on the horn to ask the “whys” behind the deal.   Both Irwin and the Montauk brass told BBD: Montauk wasn’t looking to sell. But CPG vet Irwin had been … Continue reading “Tilray Chief on the “Why” Behind the Montauk Deal “

Dear Client: The cross-category deals get more and more interesting as 2022 grinds closer to a close. News crossed the wires this morning that cannabis giant Tilray, which you may recall owns SweetWater, Green Flash, Alpine Beer and Breckenridge Distillery, is purchasing New York craft brand Montauk Brewing Co. Arlington Capital Advisors advised Montauk Brewing … Continue reading “Tilray Buying Montauk”

Dear Client:  The supply of diesel fuel on the east coast has dropped to a 30-year low in recent weeks, as the war in Ukraine and the shuttering of U.S. refineries take their toll on the supply of distillate, crucial to making diesel fuel. Diesel, of course, is absolutely crucial to moving beer from brewer … Continue reading “Diesel Supply Critically Low”

Dear Client:  While one of your BBD editors attended the California Beer and Beverage Distributors convention in Napa this week, the other attended the inaugural gathering of the California Family Beer Distributors in Palm Springs. CFBD exec director Kevin Luckey opened the half-day show, painting the need for such an organization. The CFBD was created … Continue reading “CFBD Meeting: Access “Not Best Served In a Billionaire’s Boardroom””

Dear Client:  Netflix is launching its new ad-supported tier today and beer suppliers are set to show up.  Anheuser-Busch announced yesterday that it will be responsible for “the very first beer ad served on the platform,” and Molson Coors told Ad Age that it too has ads lined up to run on the new tier … Continue reading “Netflix Now Rolling Beer Ads”

Several years after launching its revitalization plan to “turn around this business,” Molson Coors’ top- and bottom-line growth is “not just the story of a quarter,” but “it’s becoming a trend.” At least, that’s CEO Gavin Hattersley’s take, as the company shared its Q3 earnings in an investor call Tuesday morning.  [For more figures on … Continue reading “Gavin Talks “Historic Price Increases” and the Consumer Response”

Dear Client:  Anheuser-Busch has watched as competitors like Molson Coors have teamed up with giant non-alc companies like Coke to bring Topo Chico Hard Seltzer to market, while Boston paired with Pepsi to launch Hard MTN Dew (among other alliances).  And now, A-B is making its big move in the cross-categorical partnership realm, joining with … Continue reading “A-B Piloting Boozy Jarritos Brand: Cantaritos Hard Soda”

Dear Client:  Molson Coors reported its third quarter results this morning, which saw U.S. shipments grow 1.4% and U.S. depletions drop only 0.9%. The company touted how it “earned the second highest overall dollar share gains across the U.S. beer industry” during the quarter, and its core brands “continued to strengthen over the frame” with … Continue reading “Molson Coors Sees Best Quarterly U.S. Depletion Trend in Over a Decade”

And how brand is performing in mature markets.  Dear Client: As the beer industry continues to weigh the implications of Hard MTN Dew and how it’s distributed, the product continues to enter new markets. Recall, Boston said the brand will enter a couple more markets before the end of the year, and Blue Cloud … … Continue reading “Blue Cloud Rolls Out Ohio for Hard MTN Dew”

Dear Client:  On their Q3 earnings call yesterday, Anheuser-Busch InBev chief Michel Doukeris talked about the usual futuristic buckets where their U.S. business is making headway: premiumization and digitization. Their above core/beyond beer portfolio is now 40% of U.S. revs, up from 27% just five years ago (in 2017). So they’re on their way.  Indeed, … Continue reading “ABI Chief: Beer is “Incredibly Relevant” But Partners Need to Get Behind “Players that Invest””

Dear Client: In its third quarter earnings release this morning, Anheuser-Busch InBev chief Michel Doukeris said right off the bat that they “continue to see strong consumer demand for our portfolio and a resilient beer category as we navigate the dynamic operating environment.” Indeed, the company turned in its “best quarterly volume performance” so far … Continue reading “A-B Underperforms the Industry with U.S. Depletions Down 1.7% in Q3”

Dear Client: Boston Beer Co. sees where the industry is going and growing, and it wants to bring you along for the ride.  That was the main message Boston Beer conveyed to their distributors at bi-regional meetings over the past weeks — your editor donned his tricorn hat and small-britches to bring you the behind-the-scenes … Continue reading “Boston Beyond Beer”

Dear Client: The latest label rundown from bw166 reveals an interesting bit of action brewing in the RTD space. Recent approvals found by the firm appear to show a new production partnership emerging between Tetra Pak wine/RTD startup Beatbox and Constellation; the expansion of another, as Beam and Boston Beer look to introduce a new … Continue reading “Partnerships and Blurring Continues in RTDs”

Dear Client: Summer is over, and as Boston Beer takes a hefty Q3 charge for crushing obsolete inventory as they reformulate Truly after it crushed oversold Truly last year, and Wall Street using language like “seltzers haven’t found their bottom” and “a recovery in SAM will be largely tethered to stabilization in seltzers (not there … Continue reading “Saving Seltzer: Where’s the Bottom?”