Beer Marketer's Insights
Spokane, WA's No-Li Brewhouse has grown steadily in tight footprint of WA and ID (plus a bit of international sales) in recent years but saw a recent surge after making key distribution changes in its home state. After transferring to AB network from Odom by Nov 1, No-Li sales surged 35% to close out the year, as total volume grew moderately to 17,800 bbls in 2022, co-founder and CEO John Bryant shared with CBN. Recall, handful of other notable suppliers recently transferred from Odom to Columbia in parts of WA, including Mark Anthony, Deschutes, Sierra Nevada, San Juan Seltzer and pFriem (see Nov 23, 2022 issue). No-Li went opposite route and so far, it's paying off.
GLBC Debuts 2023 Lineup, Including Yr-Round Double IPA, IPA Variety Pk & Sunsail Hard Tea
In the yr of its 35th anniversary, Cleveland's Great Lakes Brewing Co still has some new levers to pull. Many are squarely in line with broader craft trends. And that starts with new yr-round Vibacious Double IPA, a 9% ABV product launching in all GLBC's mkts in Mar. It'll be sold on draft as well is in 12oz can 6pks and 19.2oz singles, marking co's first 19.oz can release. Also debuting in Mar is yr-round Hop Madness IPA Variety 12Pk, featuring new Vibacious Double IPA, TropiCoastal Tropical IPA, Hazecraft IPA and a Small Batch Rotator IPA exclusive to the pk. And rounding out new yr-round offerings is Sunsail Hard Tea, releasing in Apr in 12oz can 6pks and 19.2oz singles, plus a peach flavor available only in 12oz 6pks.
On-Prem Beer Prices Up Far Less Than Off-Prem; Can Prices Flattish as Aluminum Costs Fall
Tho on-premise beer prices rose across top styles from Mar-Dec 2022 in the US, low-single-digit price hikes in restaurants, bars and taprooms still lagged well behind increases in the off-premise. But the price of 12oz cans stabilized in the last 10 mos on-premise, reflecting a reduction in cost of aluminum, per latest report from Untappd. Analyzing pricing from nearly 20K on-prem retailers, Untappd found that the price of a 12oz bottle rose 3.4% for American Light Lagers and 3.7% for American IPAs. Yet Light Lager 12oz can prices rose just 0.9% while American IPA can prices were flat.
On top of New Belgium Juice Force's historic launch, several other craft brands were among top beer innovations in tracked foodstore channels last year, data from latest Bump Williams Consulting update showcased. Sierra Nevada Little Things Assorted posted an incremental $8 mil and Blue Moon Light Sky Tropical at $6.6 mil, marking #15 and #16 new beer brands in foodstores. Leinenkugel's Juicy Peach ($2.6 mil), Victory Tripel Fruited Sour ($2.5 mil), Sam Adams Wicked IPA Assorted ($2.4 mil) and Sierra Sunny Little Thing ($1.65 mil) were highlighted in BWC report too. And Juice Force growth even more pronounced including c-stores, natch, but still managed to hit $20.5 mil in foodstores, making it 7th largest new beer brand in the channel last yr. Some other new craft brands (not listed as "new" in the report due to slight sales tracked in 2021) that made good headway in 2022 include Lagunitas Assorted IPA pack, Sierra Atomic Torpedo IPA and Goose Island Hazy Hug, among others.
Dogfish Head has several new initiatives in 2023 to help its beer biz get back on track while further fueling canned cocktails' strong growth, co-founder Sam Calagione shared with CBN in recent chat.
Craft beer remained soft in scans thruout 2022, marking segment's 2d straight year of decline and 4th straight year of $$ share loss in IRI multi-outlet + convenience channels. IRI craft sales slipped 5% by $$, 9% by volume for 52 wks thru Dec 25. Shed 0.6 share of total beer $$ to 10.6. Craft volume down 0.3 pts to 7.4 share of total beer. Gotta note, while IRI tracks over half of total beer industry volume sold, it typically tracks a little less than 1/3 of IRI-defined craft segment. Craft down 11 mil cases (~800K bbls) to 115.4 mil cases total (~8.4 mil bbls) in 2022 IRI. Still unclear if the other ~2/3 of craft biz was able to make up for steep decline in off-prem chains amid slower on-prem recovery and tuff economic environment for indie off-prem, tho taprooms seemingly kept up strong growth. But chain retailers are clearly cutting back on craft beer focus these days.
Of 246 private cos that qualified for Forbes' 2022 list of "America's Largest Private Companies" with estimated fiscal yr revenues above $2 bil, a solid chunk came from food & bev. Within that group, retailers snagged 3 top-10 spots and 9 of top-40. Three distribs cracked top-35. And a couple suppliers made the cut as well.
Constellation Appeals to 9th Circuit, Seeking to Remove Roadblock from Moving Brands in WA
Co said it would happen and here it is. This wk, Constellation appealed the temporary restraining order (TRO), preliminary injunction (PI) and other unfavorable recent orders in dispute with Washington distrib Olympic Eagle. Constellation believes the district ct judge erred when blocking its attempt to terminate the distrib without cause, just as co telegraphed at time of the TRO and PI. So this is just formal legal acknowledgement of that view; no additional arguments at this time.
Another wonky year in scans wrapped up with beer $$ eking out 0.5%, $218-mil growth for 52 wks thru Dec 25 in IRI multi-outlet + convenience data. But that's all due to price increases. Volume sank 4.9%, shedding over 81 mil cases (nearly 5.9 mil bbls) vs year ago. Avg price/case rose 5.7% to $28.55 for the year, including +8% for final 12 wks. Indeed, additional price increases this fall ultimately pushed beer $$ into positive territory. While the $$ gains were more than welcome, lotsa industry observers keep raising questions about how long that can last amid higher price points and their impact on consumers.
In federal courts on opposite coasts, Constellation's defending decisions that concern relatively small pieces of its overall biz. In WA, Constellation just appealed orders by a fed judge that blocked its attempt to move 1.2 mil cases from Olympic Eagle to Columbia. In NY, a dispute with ABI's Mexican subsidiary Modelo seems to be headed to trial to determine if Constellation rightly produced and sold Corona Hard Seltzer, which is down steeply this yr, likely to fall somewhere between 2.5-3 mil cases, we estimate. Combined, these disputes concern around 1% of Constellation's beer biz. But they deal with crucial strategic issues, including its use of core trademarks and its wholesaler network.