Beer Marketer's Insights
A year and a half after it was initially announced, Heineken's $2.5 bil deal to take majority stake in Distell Group and Namibia Breweries finally looks to be in the clear. Recall, South Africa's Competition Commission greenlit the takeover last Sep, with conditions attached. But Competition Tribunal had to approve the merger as well, which gave it the go ahead yesterday.
Awkward: Constellation Gives Olympic Eagle Award at Gold Network Summit as They Duke it Out in Court
Constellation is trying to force consolidation from Olympic Eagle in WA to Columbia and Olympic Eagle is fighting that move in court. So far it got a rare preliminary injunction at the District Court level, but Constellation appealed. So it's kind of strange that amidst all that, Olympic Eagle received an award at this year's Gold Network Summit for its strong performance with STZ brands. But it's in the numbers. Would-be acquiror Columbia also received awards.
Diageo Beer Co and its Guinness brand are gearing up for a bigger and better St Patrick's Day holiday in 2023, new prexy Rodney Williams shared with INSIGHTS in wide-ranging chat. A couple yrs removed from Covid shutdowns and no longer "racked with supply chain challenges," Rodney and co anticipate this to be a strong holiday for Guinness and the industry. Co's putting extra focus in current and upcoming taproom/brewpub mkts, including 16 days of programming set up at Open Gate brewery in Baltimore with an "Irish village" atmosphere on campus to "really drive a new set of experiences," Rodney shared. In Chicago, Guinness will "give people a looksee" at "what to expect" for the upcoming Guinness taproom opening "late summer" this year, he added. DBC already partnered with "local high-quality purveyors" like Intelligentsia Coffee to develop some "great combination brews" for the taproom and will build a bakery in the taproom, "building on the legacy established in Baltimore" during Covid, to further "create a special experience."
ABI v STZ Day 6: Debating Accuracy, Use of Internal and External Docs; Judge Skeptical, Jury Jokes
Pace of federal trial in NYC between ABI Modelo and Constellation picked up a bit on its 6th day, even if arguments remain very familiar. Judge Lewis Kaplan again provided most colorful commentary, again took some witness questioning into his own hands and again chastised high-powered and expansive legal teams for each co. Yet there were also lighter moments. And in some of them, the jury even seemed to be enjoying itself, occasionally trading perplexed stares for bemused smiles. Despite "trade usage" of the term "beer" being largely barred, yesterday's testimony swirled around the sometimes confusing and often contradictory ways that these brewers, the rest of the beer industry and various regulators describe hard seltzer's relationship to beer. Did the jury catch a glimpse of the mental and linguistic gymnastics we've all been doing?
Following a pretty good Jan, beer volume sank 3.7% for 4 weeks thru Feb 26 in IRI multi-outlet + convenience. Now down 2% yr-to-date. But $$ sales still up 4.4% YTD as avg prices up $1.81, 6.5% to almost $30 per case ($29.47). Editor's note: IRI merged with NPD last summer and is rebranding as Circana, co announced today, "the leading advisor on the complexity of consumer behavior." But for ease and clarity, we're still referring to these reports as IRI for now.
La Croix marketer National Beverage claimed new record in fiscal-Q3 sales, as sales edged up 3.7% to $268.5 mil. Gross margin came in at 35%. Net income advanced 10.6% to $34.4 mil. Earnings announcement cited co's ability to keep La Croix brand relevant without recourse to line extensions that might provide a fleeting lift. "Our La Croix sparkling water continues to revitalize its loyal following and attracts new consumers with each new distinctive flavor release," per "spokesman" cited in earnings release.
Danone's internally developed success story in cold-brew, Stok, continues to diversify mix, with plans for first creamed versions and, next year, another go at RTDs. For near term, staffers at Expo booth were sampling Espresso Blend that launched in Jan, joining multiserve line of uncreamed entries that have become familiar fixture in grocery coolers. So far, those have worked fine for at-home consumers who freely customize the brews themselves. A seasonal creamed Pumpkin entry will return this fall, as will a newcomer, Peppermint Mocha. And first permanent creamed item, Cappuccino, will arrive in Dec. As for single-serves, recall that brand launched in 2016 with glass-bottle entries in 13.7-oz size (BBI, Apr 11 2016) but they failed to garner traction and were pulled as the multiserves took off. But the company is planning another run at segment, this time in canned format, likely in 12-oz, for late 2024.
Sparkling yerba mate player Clean Cause unveiled its first non-yerba-mate line at Expo West, Sparkling Pick-Me-Up that it's positioning as "the Swiss Army knife of beverages." The 12-oz slim-can line clad in appealing pastel-y colors contains 1 g of grassfed, free-range collagen and another gram of prebiotics sourced from chicory and inulin, along with 120 mg of caffeine from green tea. But it has only 6 g of sugar per can (30 calories), in initial flavor range of Strawberry Lemon, Orange Passion and Berry Vanilla. So, as founder/ceo Wes Hurt pointed out, it operates at nexus of brands like Vital Proteins, Poppi and Alani Nu with promise of jitter-free caffeine, happier gut and skin, joint and hair support. Unlike core line, it's not certified as organic. It's shipping now, line-priced with core yerba mate line. Wes noted that it represents thorough restage of effort that received limited test last year but failed to connect. But reception at first day of Expo was robust, he said.
Around 3-4 years ago, yerba mate pioneer Guayaki caused a shock with move to exit UNFI and KeHe in favor of self-distribution scheme that called in part for equipping so-called "do-ers," some of them ex-felons who deserved another chance, with Tesla electric cars (BBI, Jan 4 2019). Also out were some longtime DSD partners. It was audacious experiment that didn't seem out of synch with world view of new ceo Stefan Kozak, whose prior tenure at Red Bull North America included a healthy dose of terminations of third-party distributors in favor of self-distribution. But co has been unwinding some of that experiment, returning to beer houses and other DSD partners in large areas of country, including most of eastern US, staffers at Expo West booth confirmed. Co has recruited houses like Polar in New England and Heidelberg in Kentucky to manage its canned energizers available in still and sparkling versions. But it's sticking to scheme out west; NY also remains outpost of self-distribution.
BevNet conference offered coupla sessions in which brand marketers in different bev segments enthused about virtues of do-it-yourself approach to distribution. In wake of move to exit Dr Pepper Snapple DSD network and go mainly direct to retail, Fiji Waters prexy Elizabeth Stephenson made case for completely controlling the customer experience yourself. Then, in separate session, Guayaki cofounder David Karr and mgg ptnr Peter Lee shed light on efforts to recruit team of thousands of Chevy Volt-driving "hacedors" (doers) to get the word - and product - out. Here are details.