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Last yr was "a bit of a transition year" for Montucky Cold Snacks after Gallo acquired the brand, Gallo cco Britt West told the audience at the Beer Insights Seminar in NYC yesterday, but this year "I think we're really starting to fire on all cylinders." In the "last 4 weeks we were up 72% on Montucky," Britt said citing Circana data. That's fueled in part by distribution expansion, tho velocity is "strong as well." On-premise is also "very healthy" for Montucky and has "probably been the hallmark of where the beer stayed healthy" thruout the transition, Britt shared. Gallo's growing momentum in malt bevs showed up in other data INSIGHTS presented at Seminar. It's the #10 malt bev growth co in scan data (see below). Up $3.8 mil, 74% in Circana multi-outlet + convenience data yr-to-date thru Oct 5, including both Montucky Cold Snacks and Ten Ball FMB. Acquiring Montucky showed that Gallo "was gonna be serious about beer," Britt emphasized. Asked whether Gallo would consider acquiring its own brewing facility, he replied: "If we're gonna be serious about beer, why wouldn't we be serious about brewing?" Tho "we'll see as it unfolds." Could Gallo also bring on additional beer brands to bolster its position in malt bevs? "Absolutely," said Britt. "I think scale for scale's sake would be dangerous." But "if we can see a runway and a path to a consumer where we believe that Gallo could bring its strengths to bear, I think that would make all the sense in the world for us."Ten Ball "Might be my Favorite Brand in the Portfolio" It ain't just Montucky makin' noise on the malt side of Gallo's biz, however. Ten Ball "might be my favorite brand in the portfolio," Britt highlighted, adding that it's "the one in our portfolio that nobody talks about that actually we're very internally excited about." Gallo brass believes that brand is "ripe" with opportunity and have seen the 10% ABV FMB's sales numbers "pop off the page," particularly in its South/Southeast home base. These days, Gallo's growth in beer scans is mainly driven by Montucky and Ten Ball, Britt explained. But "we should have more coming soon."Lucky One Scaled Faster in Yr 1 Than High Noon; VMC a Top 3 Bev Alc Brand in Hispanic Accounts How about RTD spirits side of the biz? While High Noon slipped into decline in scans this yr, "anybody who doesn't understand the RTD cycle hasn't paid much attention to history," Britt quipped. He believes the brand still has additional runway, as it's been "fairly disciplined" on innovation to date. Still, "we did expect this" and "we were prepared" with other brands coming up behind it such as VMC, Salt Point and Lucky One. The latter's had "an incredible start" and is "further ahead" on volume in yr 1 "than we were on High Noon." (High Noon sold 600K cases in year 1.) Then too, VMC "is a top 3 beverage alcohol brand across all commodity bases" in "Hispanic tagged accounts," according to Britt."Bullish" on VMC Expansion into Gen Mkt; Salt Point Could be a "Juggernaut" in CA and Beyond VMC has already "grown into a big brand today" fueled almost "entirely" by the Mexican/Mexican American mkt, Britt commented. But the big question will be "does it tip into the general market," and "we are still bullish on how far that can go." VMC got "so big in California" that co's now seeing velocity increase in mainstream grocery too, "which gives us a lot of encouragement to believe that it can tip." INSIGHTS hears the brand already sells ~1 mil cases in CA alone, and next yr Britt believes Salt Point is "gonna be a real juggernaut for us" in CA with potential to scale regionally as well. Asked whether Gallo views NA bevs as a potentially meaningful growth avenue going forward, he replied: "yes." And questioned on which is a higher priority for Gallo between beer and spirits, Britt quipped "both."

Montucky Cold Snacks Up 72% for 4 Wks; Gallo #10 Growth Co in Malt Bevs; Open to Buying Brands or a Brewery

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