Constellation Brands

Constellation Brands reported its fiscal-year 2018 earnings on Thursday, which were highlighted by a 3 percent increase in total net sales, to more than $7.6 billion. Net sales of Constellation Brands’ beer brands — including Mexican import labels Corona, Modelo and Pacifico as well as craft breweries Ballast Point and Funky Buddha — increased 10.1 percent, to about $4.7 billion.

A pair of beer brands have inked sponsorship agreements with Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy. Craft Brew Alliance today announced a “multi-year partnership” with the Galaxy for its Kona brand to become the club’s official craft beer. Specific financial terms of the sponsorship were not disclosed.

Aloha Sculpin IPA features a distinct yeast strain known as Saccharomyces “Bruxellensis” Trois, or Brux Trois, turning the flagship IPA into a tropical oasis with aromas and flavors of guava, mango, and pineapple without any fruit additions. While Belgian yeast strains are known for their clove and banana-like aroma, this strain bears exotic fruit aromas.

In this roundup of legal news: MillerCoors is attempting to block a former top executive from joining Constellation Brands; Bell’s loses a nearly 3-year-old trademark fight; and a federal judge is allowing a lawsuit filed by the son of Thelonious Monk against North Coast Brewing Co. to proceed.

Constellation Brands today announced that CEO Rob Sands has relinquished his role as “president,” appointing current chief operating officer Bill Newlands to the position. Sands will continue to serve as CEO, a press release noted.

Following a year of flat sales at off-premise retail in 2017, U.S. beer dollar sales increased 3 percent through the first four weeks of 2018, according to retail data provider IRI Worldwide. IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm that tracks category-wide sales trends at off-premise retailers, reported total U.S. dollar sales of about $2.2 billion through January 28 in its multi-outlet and convenience (MULC) universe of stores (grocery, drug, club, dollar, mass-merchandiser and military).

At the of January, Constellation Brands announced that its Corona Extra brand would become the exclusive import beer of the Kentucky Derby for the next two years. The deal, according to John Alvarado, Constellation’s vice president of marketing, was driven in part by the date of this year’s race: May 5 (Cinco de Mayo).

In this week’s edition of Last Call: Constellation Brands-owned Ballast Point announces plans to consolidate its operations in Miramar; Epic Brewing recalls a batch of beer; A-B releases its Bud Light “Dilly Dilly” ad; and more.

San Diego’s Ballast Point Brewing will open the first on-site brewery in Anaheim’s downtown Disney District at Disneyland Resort this fall. The Disney taproom is the seventh Ballast Point location in Southern California — and first in Orange County — for the Constellation Brands-owned craft brewery. The move is part of the beer company’s ongoing strategy to grow the Ballast Point brand through local outposts both in California and across the country.

U.S. beer volume sales were roughly flat in 2017, according to retail data provider IRI Worldwide. The market research firm, which tracks category-wide sales trends at off-premise retailers, reported that total U.S. beer dollar sales topped $34 billion in the firm’s multi-outlet and convenience (MULC) universe of stores (grocery, drug, club, dollar, mass-merchandiser and military).

Constellation Brands reported its third-quarter fiscal 2018 earnings Friday, which were highlighted by 9.1 percent growth in beer depletions (sales-to-retailers) and a 5.9 percent increase in shipments over the comparable three-month period.

As the end of 2017 draws near, U.S. beer volume sales remain roughly flat, according to recent data from Chicago-based market research firm IRI Worldwide. IRI, which tracks beer sales at off-premise retailers, reported that total beer sales through the first 11 months of 2017 exceeded $31.8 billion in the firm’s multi-outlet and convenience. Through December 3, U.S. beer volume sales declined 0.5 percent while total beer dollar sales increased 1.1 percent.

More than 200 beer industry professionals met in Santa Monica for the annual winter Brewbound Session business conference in early December. Videos from the all-day event are now available online.

The beer category’s high end segment could add about a 500 million more cases in the next decade, Constellation Brands chief marketing officer Jim Sabia said during Wednesday’s Brewbound Session.