ABI's new Technical Excellence Center "is a showcase of how the brewing giant is evolving its manufacturing systems in a way that's designed to shave costs from the process," reported St Louis Business Journal. Facility, which opened up last month but still undergoing construction, will cost around $9 mil once complete, said Russ Mathis, technical mgr. ABI "will train workers on everything from 3D printing to how to use motion control devices, electrical safety and maintenance, and process equipment maintenance and support," per report.

In first full wk of 2023 IRI multioutlet + convenience scans ended Jan 8, total bev alc $$ grew 10% vs yr ago. That's partially driven by calendar shift creating an extra shopping day (due to Jan 2 observed holiday), and bev alc $$ predictably fell 25% vs prior wk going against New Year's comps. But it's a "strong start to 2023," wrote IRI exec veep Scott Scanlon, and "thus far it appears consumers are not participating in Dry Jan as much as some anticipated." But they're definitely buying more NA beer.

That's one heckuva list of top-3 growth cos for full yr 2022 in IRI multi-outlet + convenience data. STZ grew 10x the next largest $$ gainer, +$730 mil and +1.53 share. Kirin-Lion was #2, up $72 mil and +0.15 share, with New Belgium +0.2 share and Bell's declining/losing share. And Sazerac malt bevs #3 (+0.14). But some interesting shifts for last 12 weeks of the yr. Molson Coors shot up from #7 to #2 share gainer. Up $83 mil and 0.21 share in Q4, vs +$65 mil and +0.02 share in 2022 scans. Mark Anthony +0.17 share in Q4 vs +0.06 YTD. AB lost the most share across both timeframes but improved from -0.93 share for full yr to -0.65 share for 12 wks. Share losses accelerated for both Heineken and Boston Beer in Q4: HUSA fell from -0.37 to -0.42 share, while SAM slipped from -0.05 share to -0.10.

Sierra Nevada shipped about 14.6 mil cases in 2022 (1.06 mil bbls), down 3.5%, chief commercial officer Joe Whitney shared in wide-ranging conversation, our sibling pub Craft Brew News reported yesterday. That dip steepened in soft Dec when Sierra down 10%, with 2 fewer selling days. But for most of yr, Sierra only down a skosh. It was also down 1.4% in 2021. For 5 yrs, Sierra stayed between 1-1.1 mil bbls. That's better than a lot of larger craft brewers, but it's still not growth. Yet Sierra aims to grow in 2023, expecting to be up 4%, noted Joe. And Sierra still expects to double revs in 5 yrs, in part from its new Can Do facility, which will produce other suppliers' innovative products, expecting that to be "up and running in Q2."

Now that the playing field is open, here comes another bev alc brand getting in on the Big Game advertisingbattle. Heineken 0.0 will join the fray with a 30-second spot, set to air during the 1st half and "believed to be the first" Super Bowl ad focused on NA beer, co shared. And it'll do so with some help from Paul Rudd starring as Ant-Man, building off joint campaign between Heineken and Marvel Studios in lead up to new Ant-Man and The Wasp movie.

Molson Coors is lookin' to drum up some extra buzz and suspense leading up to its first natl Super Bowl TV ad in 30+ yrs. Coors Light and Miller Lite each publicly claimed they'll get the lone 30-second spot as both took full-page ads in the New York Times today, put up billboards in their respective hometowns of Golden, CO and Milwaukee, WI, and posted on social media. "The big game hasn't tasted this great in 30 years," sez Miller Lite NYT ad, and "the big game hasn't been this refreshing in 30 years," according to Coors Light ad, each listing the Super Bowl date, 2.12.23, underneath.

ABI ceo Michel Doukeris is at World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where "attendance is booming," wrote Axios, including 50 heads of state and 600 ceos. A cheerful Michel interviewed there by Yahoo's Brian Sozzi this morn, about everything from ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) to US trends in December after 2d price increase.

Major Bud house Hensley in Ariz informed employees last week that it will buy fellow Anheuser-Busch distributor Premier of NM, deal that's likely to make Hensley one of top 5 A-B houses. Deal anticipated to close late this qtr adds about 7.5 mil cases of almost all A-B products and brings Hensley close to 38 mil cases, including NA bevs, as our sibling letter Insights Express reported yesterday. Over three-fourths of its biz is A-B but it has hefty NA portfolio. Hensley could aim to replicate some of its success with NA brands in NM, tho it will also face formidable competitor in Admiral Bevs, which has Red Bull and other NAs as well as lots of top beer brands. Among tail winds to transaction, some of same key chains are big in both states, plus Hensley will likely realize at least some synergies since states are next door to each other. But NM has lotsa windshield time and A-B has declined there for many years. Only other A-B dist in state is L&F, a megadistrib in Texas that only has s