Beer Marketer's Insights
With above-core segments now over half of beer industry volume and over 40% of AB revs generated from above core brands, AB continues to put big emphasis on High End and Brewers Collective portfolio. AB's "poised to continue to capitalize on that direction," veep of High End/Brewers Collective Nate Muszcyzynski and mktg veep for High End/Brewers Collective Carrie Shafir underscored in chat with INSIGHTS. "Craft will be a key anchor point in our growth plans," Stella Artois remains "our largest and most important high-end brand," and Estrella Jalisco is having a "phenomenal year," Nate noted.
It's time to stop expecting the beer industry will return to 2019 levels and accept the new norms, Whole Foods global principal category merchant for beer & spirits, Mary Guiver, and Buffalo Wild Wings veep of brand menu & culinary, Jamie Carawan stated at Brewbound Live. "Trying to get back to where we were and trying to level out, that was years ago at this point," said Mary. "Our customers are very different," and "our challenge now is to just call it what it is and just look ahead, try and figure out what the future is and realize that we're just in a different space entirely. There's no level-setting at this point, it's forward looking," she added.
"Alcohol Is the Clear Net Sales Winner" During Pandemic Across Several Categories, Shows Bernstein
Bernstein's team of 10 global cpg analysts "reflect" this morn on how the "pandemic rocked both our sectors and the broader market." They "assess: who have been the ultimate winners after the turbulent last three years? And where to from here for the consumer?" And the answer is that "alcohol is the clear net sales winner on a three-year stack," compared to European and American food cos, Euro bev cos and North American cannabis cos. About 30 cos in all. Looking at net sales numbers for the first half of 2022 vs first half 2019, alcohol companies, especially distillers, top the rankings. Boston Beer's first half of 2022 almost 80% higher than 2019, even with seltzer falling this year.
Thoughtful, detailed report on NA beer prospects from Consumer Edge's Brett Cooper shows wide competitive variations by state, premiumization as the driver of growth, and continued upside to segment for many reasons (Brett lists 10 "structural supports" — see below). NA beer is "seeing outsized growth with outlook supported by consumer and industry factors," as Brett headlined. Segment has a 3 yr CAGR in mid-20s. "Premiumization has been a big driver of the accelerated growth in the segment," according to Brett. Above-premium NAs up roughly 30 share compared to 5 yrs ago. Higher-priced non-alc beer "has accounted for 60% of total" NA growth in period and was just 8 share of NA "at outset of the period." (This article also appeared in sibling pub INSIGHTS Express.)
Molson Coors' efforts to make Hop Valley a natl growth brand did not sustain in 2022 as co continues to shift more of its craft efforts toward larger natl brands. So MC's Tenth & Blake is narrowing focus on Hop Valley Stash brands going forward, putting bigger emphasis on home PacNW mkts and CA while lookin' for oppys in individual mkts elsewhere across the country, 10th & Blake prexy Jeff Agase shared with CBN. Amid changing dynamics with Hop Valley, co-founder Walter MacBeth left the co earlier this yr, Jeff confirmed. While co didn't provide reason for Walter's departure, Jeff highlighted that longtime employee, Brandon Ross, stepped up to natl sales director role. Brandon moved up to role in June 2022, according to LinkedIn, and has been with co for nearly 10 yrs, including more recently as head of key accounts. Before that, he worked at AB for nearly 10 yrs in on-prem sales.
AB Brewers Collective portfolio continues to outpace craft segment and gain sizable share in 2022, and "craft will be a key anchor point in our growth plans" as beer biz continues to premiumize heading into 2023, VP of High End/Brewers Collective Nate Muszcyzynski and VP of mktg for High End/Brewers Collective Carrie Shafir underscored in chat with CBN. AB's 18 acquired craft beer cos collectively dipped 2% to $483 mil YTD thru Oct 30 in IRI multi-outlet + convenience data. That includes $17.6 mil of beyond beer (excluding spirits brands) down more than 20% amid seltzer drops. So AB acquired craft beer actually a bit healthier, down just 1%. Still gaining 0.5 share of craft segment to 11.9 total in IRI. Even including Shock Top decline (-20%), AB craft still up nearly 0.4 pts to 12.5 share of craft $$ YTD. Tho with so many brand fams, there are lots of ups and downs within the portfolio and changing dynamics.
It's time to stop expecting the beer industry will return to 2019 levels and accept the new norms, Whole Foods global principal category merchant for beer & spirits, Mary Guiver, and Buffalo Wild Wings veep of brand menu & culinary, Jamie Carawan stated at Brewbound Live. "Trying to get back to where we were and trying to level out, that was years ago at this point," said Mary. "Our customers are very different," and "our challenge now is to just call it what it is and just look ahead, try and figure out what the future is and realize that we're just in a different space entirely. There's no level-setting at this point, it's forward looking," she added.
When all was said and done, a slight majority of Colorado voters affirmed the ballot measure that will allow grocery and convenience stores to sell wine. "Yes" votes on the proposal won by a 1.2-pt margin, larger than the 0.2-pt margin where the race stood just after election day (see Nov 11 issue). But the final tally still totalled a difference of around 28,000 votes, mostly from in and around Denver, according to the Colorado Sun. Starting March 1, the 1,800+ stores currently licensed to sell "strong beer" (over 3.2% alc by weight) will also be able to sell wine.
America's driver-centric culture, leading to bigger cars and wider roads, could be biggest culprit in the country's failure to reduce traffic fatalities in the same way that other developed countries have, the NY Times wrote over the weekend. Total US road deaths in 2020 were up 5% vs 2017-2019 averages, the paper showed. But across a few dozen other countries, only 2 others saw increases (Switzerland and Ireland), while most saw double-digit declines in road deaths. The difference? Those nations started "prioritizing the safety of people outside" cars, not just those inside them, per report.
Heineken's decision to slightly lower the strength of Foster's in the UK from 4% to 3.7% ABV seems to have really ticked off a number of pub-goers ("punters" in local parlance), the Sun blazed this wk. But their frustration may be tied more to a simultaneous 16% price hike for the brand than to the dip in alcohol. These drinkers used plenty of colorful language to air their grievances, many certain they'll be able to tell the difference (we're less certain).