Jessica Infante joined Brewbound in 2019 after nearly a decade in a variety of marketing roles in the craft beer industry. Prior to that, she was a daily newspaper reporter at the Jersey Shore. Jess holds a bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and a master’s degree in integrated marketing communication from Emerson College. She is a certified Cicerone and lives in Salem, Massachusetts.
The beer category didn’t see fireworks in off-premise retail sales this July 4, market research firm NielsenIQ reported. “For the biggest beer holiday of the year, the category had lackluster performance in the off-premise channels this year, with dollar sales down -5.1% compared to last year, and up +7% compared to 2019, which was driven in great part by beyond beer segments,” NielsenIQ vice president of beverage alcohol practice Danelle Kosmal wrote.
Boston Beer Company adjusted its full-year forecast for shipments and depletions growth after a significant slowdown in the hard seltzer segment in the second quarter. The company previously projected full-year growth of 40-50% in shipments (sales to wholesalers) and depletions (sales to retailers), but has trimmed that projection to 25-40%. Its depletions increased 24% during Q2, decelerating by half from Q1’s growth of 48%, according to remarks from founder and chairman Jim Koch in the quarterly earnings release. “To be totally honest, we’re surprised at the sharpness and the suddenness of the change in trajectory,” Koch said during a conference call with investors and analysts.
Anheuser-Busch plans to sell its wholly owned distribution business in Hawaii to multi-state wholesaler The Odom Corporation, the world’s largest beer manufacturer announced today.
Non-alcoholic craft brand Athletic Brewing has signed a lease for a new facility in Milford, Connecticut, that could triple its capacity. “Once complete, we’ll have over 150,000 barrels capacity on each coast, with the potential to triple in the new facility over time,” CEO and co-founder Bill Shufelt told Brewbound.
The Reyes Beer Division has struck a deal to acquire Greenco Beverage in Greenville, South Carolina. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close on September 24.
Beverage alcohol sales at some convenience stores have begun to decelerate as the on-premise channel reopens, Goldman Sachs analyst Bonnie Herzog reported in her Q2 “Beverage Bytes” survey of c-store retailers. Half of survey respondents reported no impact to alcohol sales during the July 4 holiday weekend. Meanwhile, 33% reported a moderate negative impact, and 17% reported a significant moderate impact.
Oskar Blues founder Dale Katechis will join Colorado-based cannabis company Veritas as a partner who “will play an active role in strategic growth initiatives for the brand,” a spokesperson told Brewbound. Katechis founded Oskar Blues in Lyons, Colorado, in 1997. The brewery grew to become the 14th-largest craft brewery by volume in the U.S. in 2015, when Fireman Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in it.
Boston Beer Company and Beam Suntory today announced a joint venture to extend two of the companies’ most popular brands — Truly Hard Seltzer and Sauza tequila — across categories.
Beer industry depletions (sales-to-retailers) volumes tracked by beverage alcohol invoicing and logistics firm Fintech have increased 9% year-to-date through Week 27 compared to the same period last year, National Beer Wholesalers Association chief economist Lester Jones and Fintech director of distributors Jim Kallies shared yesterday during a quarterly review of the industry’s performance.
Veryvell, the line of CBD beverages and drops from Truss CBD USA, the joint venture backed by Molson Coors and Canadian cannabis company HEXO, will roll out to on- and off-premise retailers throughout Colorado. “Expanding territory and expanding the portfolio is signaling success and we’re really excited about it,” Truss CBD USA general manager Jane Armstrong Hockman told Brewbound.
President Joseph R. Biden issued an executive order last week, which he said during a press briefing would “help restore competition so that we have lower prices, higher wages, more money, more options, and more convenience for the American people.”
Next Glass’ beverage alcohol tech and media empire is crossing the northern border with the company’s acquisition of Ollie Order, an omnichannel marketplace for beverage alcohol sales and a tech platform for logistics and taxation tracking that is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.
Consulting firm BW166 reported that label approvals for seltzer and seltzer-like products are accelerating, with approvals trending at 334 per month compared to the 228 per month in 2020. More than half (53%) of on-premise visitors went to a bar or restaurant during the July 4 weekend, according to CGA, an on-premise market research firm.
