Zoe Licata joined Brewbound in 2021 after several years of freelance reporting and documentary work. She’s a Massachusetts native, guinea pig for bev-alc innovation and savant in Gen Z culture.
The growth of spirits-based ready-to-drink cocktails (RTDs) may be slowing. However, the segment’s impact on the beer category is far from abating, according to bev-alc consulting and data firm 3 Tier Beverages.
Spirits-based RTD growth peaked in 2020, with dollar sales growth of more than 150% in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels (total U.S. xAOC plus liquor plus convenience), 3 Tier Beverages consultant Erin McVickers shared in a webinar last week. Growth then progressively slowed, but the segment was still able to more than double dollar sales from 2021 (nearly $1.53 billion) to 2024 (nearly $3.19 billion).
Consumers’ interest in single-serve and other “alternatives to the norm” in package sizes could be a sticky trend across not just beer, but other bev-alc categories as well, according to the latest monthly report from Bump Williams Consulting (BWC).
It appears beer wholesalers are not very optimistic for an end-of-summer boost in sales, according to the latest Beer Purchasers’ Index (BPI) from the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA).
City Brewing & Beverage has completed a transfer of control to a new ownership group made up of some of the multistate contract manufacturer’s existing lenders.
Labor Day may need to start campaigning if it wants to remain a staple of end-of-summer celebrations, particularly with the youngest legal-drinking-age (LDA) consumers.
The unpredictability of weekly bev-alc scans continues to give the industry whiplash. The beer category recorded a -2.7% year-over-year (YoY) dip in dollar sales and 4.3% decline in volume for the week ending August 17, according to the latest report from Circana and the market research firm’s EVP of BevAl, Scott Scanlon.
The U.S. Department of Commerce has added can ends and lids to the list of aluminum derivatives under Section 232 tariffs, effective Monday, August 18.
Several bev-alc trade groups, including the Brewers Association (BA) and Beer Institute (BI), submitted comments to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) last week, raising concerns over notices of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding nutrition and allergen labeling on wine, distilled spirits and malt beverages.
Beer is starting to lose share of bev-alc dollar sales in the on-premise, according to a recent report by CGA, the on-premise arm of market research firm NIQ. In the last 52 weeks (L52W, ending June 14), beer claimed 39.5% share of total bev-alc dollar sales in NIQ-tracked on-premise channels, marking a 0.3 percentage point decline year-over-year (YoY).
A legal dispute between two Pacific Northwest cider brands is bringing into question what defines a “recipe” and how airtight – and specific – agreements between bev-alc brands and their manufacturing partners need to be. Schilling Cider has filed a civil complaint against Incline Cider and its parent company Compass Brands, LLC, alleging Incline breached a “recipe agreement” and shared confidential information with a competing company
