Anheuser-Busch InBev

Off-premise dollar sales of craft beer declined -3.3%, to more than $4.6 billion, in 2024, according to multi-outlet grocery, mass retail and convenience store data shared by market research firm Circana.

There are four “winds of change” impacting consumers’ bev-alc purchasing decisions, and Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) believes it has the brands to speak to all four of those trends, according to A-B U.S. chief commercial officer Kyle Norrington.

While beer consumers – particularly core craft fans – once cared more about brand and where a product was made, most bev-alc consumers are now prioritizing price, quality and availability, among other factors. This has caused not only a shift in how craft beer is produced and marketed (hello, contract brewing boom), but also trends in imported beer.

Today’s Q3 earnings by Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) were less spooky than last Halloween’s results, with the company’s total U.S. trends now returning to patterns similar to those before the 2023 Bud Light boycott.

Keurig Dr Pepper has agreed terms to acquire energy drink and sports nutrition business GHOST, bringing one of the category’s fastest growing brands into its expanding energy portfolio.

Anheuser-Busch InBev is tapping into the equity of one of its biggest brands for its next adult non-alcoholic beer play: Michelob Ultra Zero.

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) U.S. shipments (sales to wholesalers) and depletions (sales to retailers) remained in the red in Q2 2024 as the company cycled the double-digit declines from this time last year, when the conservative-led boycott of Bud Light began following a promotion with Dylan Mulvaney, a social media influencer who is transgender..

Hard seltzers remain down double-digits through mid-July in Circana-tracked off-premise retailers. Hard seltzer declined -11.8% in dollars and -16.1% in volume through the rolling 52-week period ending July 14.

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) trends continue to improve in the latest monthly off-premise scans report from market research firm Circana. Meanwhile, positive growth trends for Molson Coors and Constellation Brands – the two largest gainers from A-B’s declines – decelerated, according to data through May 19.

Production at craft breweries outside of the Brewers Association’s (BA) craft brewer definition collectively declined -6% on a comparable basis, to nearly 7.6 million barrels in 2023, according to data shared in the May/June edition of the New Brewer Magazine.

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) U.S. businesses recorded double-digit shipments and depletions declines in Q1, the final quarter before the company begins to lap initial accelerated declines from the conservative-led boycott of Bud Light that began in April 2023.

Move over domestic premiums, imports are king. Imports overtook domestic premiums in dollar sales in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels in the four-week period ending April 20, making imports the No. 1 beer segment in scans.

Consumer sentiment toward Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) Bud Light continues to decline more than a year after the initial boycott of the brand, according to a HundredX survey, shared by Goldman Sachs in its latest Beverage Bytes report.

Constellation Brands is expected to be the biggest winner in shelf resets this spring, according to the most recent Beverage Bytes beer distributor survey by Goldman Sachs.