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Sapporo-Stone remains a tale of two brands with Sapporo red hot and Stone sinkin' as it recalibrates under new ownership structure. It was a tuffer yr for Stone as parent co Sapporo Holdings took a $90-mil impairment charge on its Stone investment early on and Stone volume dropped low-double-digits vs yr ago. But a big part of Stone's decline last yr was an orchestrated "self-correction mode," CEO Zach Keeling and CRO Tom McReavy shared with CBN yesterday. Something that much of craftland is going thru these days, Tom pointed out. After making "a lot of purposeful moves" to rightsize the Stone portfolio last yr, cutting brands and SKUs to recalibrate as a more "stable brand" long-term, "we believe we can do better," said Zach. Stone depletions were down low-to-mid teens last yr but were down more like 8% excluding eliminated SKUs, which was just a bit below craft trend overall, Tom shared. On top of self-corrections, Calif is an "even tougher" mkt than most for craft and beyond given the demographic landscape, among other factors, and that's over 40% of Stone's sales, Zach pointed out. But silver lining is flagship Stone IPA improving trend, particularly in foodstores, and starting 2026 "in growth mode." Indeed, Stone IPA $$ grew 2% with volume up nearly 5% in Circana foodstores for 52 wks thru Jan 25, where it's a top 30 brand. Tho it was down in other tracked off-prem channels.Stabilizing Stone; Increased Local Mktg Efforts, New Stone Seasonals in SoCal, Stone 15pks in TX & VA Going forward, Stone will have a "more structured, sound, focused portfolio," and build investment and innovation back on top of that in battle-tested, disciplined ways, said Zach. That includes an increase in local mktg investments, new seasonal program testing in SoCal and 15pks of Stone IPA line-priced with 12pks testing in TX and VA, thinking about "giving consumers great value" for "known quality." Zach and co are confident its decisions on Stone in 2025 can help develop "a stable brand into the future," particularly emboldened by Stone IPA's place on the natl craft stage, while aiming to shore up other core brands like the Delicious fam and build on recent launches like Stone Pils. Stone's still "incredibly important to who we are," as a "sizable brand" with "value" that "far outkicks its coverage," Zach stated.Sapporo 385K Bbls and Counting; Accelerating Each Yr; Depletions Up Double Digits in Early 2026 Meanwhile, Sapporo brand rose low-singles to 385K bbls in the US last yr, still impacted by production integrations among other factors. So Sapporo-Stone shipments declined in 2025. Yet its depletions were much healthier company-wide as Sapporo STRs rose high-singles, offsetting Stone's decline. Sapporo brand grew in 48 outta 50 states with PODs up 20% in off-prem channels, Tom added, in for another big increase this yr, particularly in Kroger and Publix. For Sapporo brand, "everything's exciting right now," said Zach, as depletions rose double digits so far in early 2026.Here's the stat Zach and co wanna hang their hats on: Sapporo is the only top 100 brand in natl scans that's grown consecutively faster each of the last 3 yrs from 2023-2025, Zach underscored. And this yr it's accelerating in off-prem chains again as core Sapporo Premium Draft started out as the 87th largest brand in Circana multi-outlet + convenience with $$ up 15%. Growth is happening across channels, Zach and Tom stressed. But grocery remains the most developed channel by far, driven by its 12pk cans. In fact, Sapporo Premium Draft was already #62 beer brand by $$ in natl Circana foodstores to start the year, growing more than 30%. That's driving virtually all of Sapporo's growth in scans. For more on Sapporo side of the biz, check out our latest issue of sibling pub INSIGHTS Express.

Stone Dragged by Eliminated SKUs, Tuff CA & Craft Mkts; Flagship IPA Growing in Early 2026; "A Lot of Purposeful Moves" and Tests

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