Beer Marketer's Insights
BeatBox founders, key execs and a panel of distribs laid out several clear opportunities for BeatBox to tackle thruout the rest of co's first-ever natl distrib meeting. Co placed a lotta emphasis on adding SKUs per store to 6 or more, as just 43% of accounts have 6 SKUs or more, but they make up 74% of BeatBox volume, selling at 6X rate of sale. BeatBox is focused on building presence in large format chains, closing gaps for 10s of thousands of existing accounts that don't carry top-2 flavors (Blue Razz and Fruit Punch) and eliminating out-of-stock issues, planning a $3-mil sales incentive program to help hit targets (on top of $5-mil incentive plan in 2024). It's also gonna ramp up on-prem presence with Buffalo Wild Wings, increase to 300 music festivals and 300+ other live events for the year, looking to get into more "traditional sports" in a "BeatBox way," senior veep of global marketing Zech Francis explained.
In one of the most fascinating, in-depth reports INSIGHTS has yet seen on spirits (with major implications for distribs and potentially brewers), Evercore ISI's Robert Ottenstein has his finger on the pulse of what's changing and challenging big public spirits cos like Diageo, Brown-Forman and more. After noting those 2 stocks at lowest levels since 2017, Robert points to their disappointing earnings, "post-COVID hangovers, with elevated inventories" and "a variety of secular concerns over alcohol consumption in general" including the "squeeze on consumers." Call those the usual suspects, but the real value of Robert's report lies in his analysis of what he calls the "troubling news."
Register today for the 30th annual Beer Insights Seminar! Join us back in the Big Apple for captivating content addressing the most pressing issues and opportunities in beer and bevs. The event kicks off with an evening reception on Sun, Nov 17 followed by an all-day program on Mon, Nov 18 at a new location in New York City, the Harmonie Club. Reserve your spot today and save $200 at the discounted early-bird rate.
AB is gradually selling off a number of its AB One operations. Today it announced agreements to "transition" 2 more to independent operators. AB One in Boston to Quality Dist (Martignetti family) and Canton to Erik Jenkins, president of Columbus Dist (owned by Jenkins family). This marks the 2d big beer distribution acquisition by the Martignetti family in 2023-2024. Recall, Martignetti is also a large independent wine and spirits distributor in New England. And now it clearly is on the march in beer too and already a significant player. Following this deal, it likely sells 13-14 mil cases of beer annualized.
Stratford, CT's Two Roads is furthering its forays into non-alc beer, this time with a take on its flagship brand. Road 2 Ruin Zero NA IPA is now available year-round "everywhere Two Roads beers are sold" in 12oz 6pks at $11.99 SRP, co announced, following its first 2 NA offerings of an American IPA and Juicy IPA.
Fresh off its announcement to buy 4 more craft brands from Molson Coors, Tilray turned to one of its previously acquired brands to tout the first-ever craft beer sponsorship of the Florida Gators Athletic Dept. Shock Top is "stepping into the Swamp" as a University of Florida sponsor, planning to launch the schools' first officially licensed co-branded craft beer to boot.
Carbliss Cracks Top 10 on Inc 5000; Athletic, March First, Minneapolis & Bishop Cider Among Repeats
Ready-to-drink spirits brand Carbliss wasn't just the top-ranked alc bev company on this year's Inc 5000 list; it ranked highest among food & bev cos and #7 across all applicants. The Plymouth, Wisconsin-based spirits RTD supplier reportedly grew revenues 27,174% over the 3-yr period from 2020-2023.
Sierra Nevada found its way and ways to grow in 2024, despite soft beer and craft beer trends. After shedding some volume each of the past 3 years, that's set to reverse. Volume is up low-mid single digits yr-to-date, chief commercial office Ellie Preslar told CBN yesterday, with no signs of slowing. Off-premise $$ sales are up 3.1% yr-to-date thru July 20 in NIQ data and up 5.1% for 4 wks, outperforming both overall craft and the top-10 craft brand fams, the co showed during its wholesaler meeting at its NC brewery. Hazy Little Thing keeps growing buttressed by innovation. Posting positive trends for Pale Ale remains elusive, but new Torpedo variants and strong seasonal gains offer meaningful growth. And its budding NA biz is flying so far. As the co looks to build on its momentum in 2025, expect more of the same.
Carbliss Cracks Top 10 on Inc 5000; Fastest-Growing Food & Bev Co with Revs +27,174% for 3 Yrs
Ready-to-drink spirits brand Carbliss wasn't just the top-ranked alc bev company on this year's Inc 5000 list; it ranked highest among all food & bev cos and #7 across all applicants. The Plymouth, Wisconsin-based spirits RTD supplier reportedly grew revenues 27,174% over the 3-yr period from 2020-2023.
"It's clear that moderation is a rising trend with lasting power," Heineken USA chief mktg officer Jonnie Cahill told Ad Age, citing 30% growth of non-alc beer in NIQ data this yr, on top of 30%+ last yr. This yr, as "longtime beer sponsor of the US Open" (over 30 yrs), Heineken "will be serving up a clever packaging promotion," wrote Ad Age, "temporarily transforming its non-alcohol Heineken 0.0 into Heineken LOve.LOve—a nod not only to the clean-slate tennis score, but to growing consumer affection for moderation in drinking."