Beer Marketer's Insights
Beer sales ultimately posted familiar trends for latest 4-wk period thru Jul 14 in Circana scans despite a lotta big swings week-to-week around the July 4 holiday. That includes softer trends in the latest week with every top-10 supplier except Kirin-Lion down for the period, even STZ. Yet for 4 wks thru Jul 14, beer $$ dipped 0.8% with volume down 2.5% in Circana multi-outlet + convenience channels. Dollar trend was about 0.3 pts lower than YTD thru Jun 16 while volume trend held steady. (Editor's note: keep in mind that Circana MULC is measuring sales to consumers in tracked off-premise channels, a different measure than Fintech's sales-to-retailers data across off-prem and on-prem accounts including indie stores.)
Beer industry's gotta "take what you got" and "accept reality" that volume's down but dollars are up these days, NBWA vp of analytics Lester Jones stated during joint webinar with Fintech veep of distrib strategy Eric Kiser. Lester's "been waiting for this to change for years" but it "hasn't switched" amid "erratic behavior" of industry trends over the past 3-4 yrs. The industry "hasn't normalized" to that "equilibrium steady state" of volume -1% to +1% and "I don't see it slowing down in terms of the erratic nature when it comes to volumes," he warned. Yet dollars are steadier, keeping pace with inflation since 2008 and contributing to "the bottom line" for retailers in a way that wine and spirits don't.
Ohio's Great Lakes Brewing Co is building out its east coast footprint. GLBC expanded distribution to MA and RI with Atlantic Beverage, launching last Fri, July 19 in conjunction with the release of its seasonal Oktoberfest. Move follows Great Lakes' expansion to New York City with S.K.I. last yr to round out its NY distribution.
Brewers Assn's outgoing prexy/CEO Bob Pease reminisced about his long tenure, sharing key moments thruout, top priorities while finishing his run, and a closer look at how the BA is addressing current challenges for craft brewers.
As summer wears on, a bit of a change of fate showed up among top craft brand families in NIQ off-premise data. New Belgium's craft volume turned negative recently, down 1.1% in this data for 4 wks thru July 13, $$ up just 1.7%. That's even as its new Voodoo Ranger Tropic Force is one of the top-10 growth brands across all of beer. But declines elsewhere in the craft portfolio offset much of that and other Voodoo Ranger growth, while the brand family's FMB entry Hardcharged Tea takes over as another major source of growth, albeit counted outside the craft segment. In all, craft $$ still down 2-3%, volume off 4-4.5% for 4 wks and YTD.
Private-label brands hit record share in both units and dollars during first 6 months of 2024, with both NA bevs and liquor among segments enjoying big jumps, Private Label Manufacturers Assn reported, citing Circana data. Across all categories, unit share reached 22.9% while dollar share hit 20.4%, as of Jun 16. In announcing results earlier this month, PLMA prexy Peggy Davies could barely contain herself, heralding that "these record highs in market shares illustrate the 'Store Brands Phenomenon' that's sweeping the retail industry across all channels, departments and categories."
Starbucks, which has been struggling again in one of its post-Howard-Schultz eras, has aroused attention of activist investor Elliott Management, development that sent shares soaring Fri after Wall St Jnl identified investor. Sometimes since Mar 31, WSJ reported, the hedge fund giant took a significant stake in chain and has been engaging with its leadership to find ways to improve the share price. The Journal could not learn the size of Elliott's position nor its specific demands, and noted it was possible a settlement might be reached. Among other forays Elliott has made in recent months have been stakes at Southwest, SoftBank, Johnson Controls, Constellation Brands and Texas Instruments. It arrives as anointed successor of 3-time CEO Schultz, the PepsiCo vet Laxman Narasimhan, has struggled to generate sales and appease restive workers. A prior CEO in that situation, Kevin Johnson, had apparently been squeezed out in similar circumstances, auguring Schultz' return for his third go-round leading co, but he's indicated he has no plans to return for a fourth time.
As Torch Approaches Paris, Olympics Organizers Sue Prime Hydration over Durant-Themed Pack
Prime Hydration is getting some unwanted attention - or maybe it doesn't actually mind the attention - just as the Olympics torch approaches Paris for opening of the Games on Fri. Competition's organizer is suing Prime and its parent Congo Brands for allegedly infringing on the Games' trademarks with its new Kevin Durant bottle. The move, of course, would trespass on Coca-Cola's expensive sponsorship of Games in US and overseas.
The federal gov't will ease out its purchasing of single-use plastics while imposing tougher regs on plastics mfg, the White House announced late last week. "The efforts, which the White House called the first comprehensive strategy to tackle plastic use nationwide, aim to reduce demand for disposable plastic items while also helping to create a market for substitutes that are reusable, compostable or more easily recyclable," as NY Times summarized initiative, which of course will be reversible should a different party occupy the Oval Office next year. Among key building blocks of initiative, the gov't intends to phase out purchases of single-use plastics for food, events and packaging by 2027 thru such steps as replacing water bottles with filling stations at gov't facilities and employing refillable ink cartridges in printers. By 2035, it hopes to banish single-use plastics from all government operations. Specifics are contained in fact sheet detailing effort.