Total bev-alc dollar sales continued to decline in the latest two weeks, as even the standout growth category ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails saw sales dip, according to the latest analysis of NIQ data from Goldman Sachs Equity Research.
Trends worsened through mid-April for the majority of the 25 largest beer category vendors at off-premise retailers, according to market research firm Circana. Total beer recorded dollar sales gains of 0.9%, while volume, measured in case sales, declined 0.7%, year-to-date (YTD) through April 19 at multi-outlet grocery, mass retail and convenience stores (MULO+C). In the last four weeks (L4W), those metrics decelerated to +0.1% in dollar sales and -1.4% in volume.
Lawson’s CEO Adeline Druart and Rhinegeist CEO Adam Bankovich discuss entering Year 3 of their respective tenures at the top of those companies in separate featured interviews on the latest edition of the Brewbound Podcast.
Boston Beer Company founder and CEO Jim Koch believes “premiumization is still out there and possible” for bev-alc producers. Koch shared the sentiment Tuesday during a fireside chat with Goldman Sachs analyst Bonnie Herzog while touting the “magic” of ready-to-drink (RTD) offerings and the potential for Lytt, Boston Beer’s new 15% ABV BuzzBallz challenger.
Check out news items initially reported in the Brewbound Insider Newsletter May 11-13, including headlines from New Realm, Molson Coors, Widmer Brothers & more.
Sazerac will acquire an equity interest in SIPMARGS, the ready-to-drink (RTD) sparkling margarita brand backed by social media personality Alix Earle and Palm Tree Crew, the company announced today. It will also enter into an exclusive distribution relationship with the brand.
While 2026 started with sunny scans for bev-alc, April brought the showers, according to the latest weekly report from market research firm NIQ.
On-premise venues should have seen a notable lift in sales over the weekend, if historical Mother’s Day trends played out.
State Manager - OH
Good Boy Vodka
Director of Brewing Operations
Mountains Walking Brewery/ New Hokkaido Bevco
Head Brewer
The Fermentorium Beverage Co.
Market Manager - OH/PA
Bluebird Hardwater LLC
Field Sales Representative
Hamburg Brewing Company
Brewer Level 2
Melvin Brewing
Area Sales Manager - Sacramento, CA
Good Boy Vodka
Another former Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) exec is making a play with a nascent light lager. Israel Dominguez, who worked in numerous sales and marketing roles at A-B over nearly a decade, is leading operations of Merican Light Beer, which launched in California in 2024 and is rolling out now in North Carolina.
Brown-Forman has rejected a $15 billion takeover offer from Kentucky rival Sazerac.
Diageo is extending its non-alc (NA) spirit Ritual Zero Proof into the ready-to-drink (RTD) category with three canned cocktails.
Maine Beer Co. is dining out on lunch. Not the meal, but its flagship IPA (7% ABV), which isn’t named for an eating occasion at all, but rather a whale spotted off the Maine coast in 1982. Her dorsal fin was missing a chunk, which had ostensibly become lunch for a shark.
For the second consecutive month, beer recorded the largest year-over-year (YoY) price increases across all bev-alc categories in April, according to today’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Yacht Water was co-founded by Lil Yachty alongside entertainment and music mogul Kevin ‘Coach K’ Lee, along with bev-alc industry veterans Rachel and Peter Kiley of Atlanta-based Sneaky Pete Spirits and Monday Night Brewing. The founders have been building a regional following in Atlanta before pushing to wider markets.
