Constellation Brands

Constellation Brand’s continued effort to move Ballast Point Brewing into its so-called “Gold Network” of U.S. beer distributors took a significant leap forward this month when the San Diego-based brewery’s distribution rights were sold in its second largest market — Massachusetts. Constellation, a cross-category alcoholic beverage company best known for selling Mexican import offerings Corona and Modelo, has confirmed to Brewbound that Ballast Point beers are no longer being sold in Massachusetts by Atlantic Beverage Distributors and the Sheehan Family Companies-owned Craft Beer Guild LLC.

The Brewers Association this week announced that it would no longer allow large brewing companies and brewery groups to purchase featured sponsorships at the Great American Beer Fest, held annually in Denver, Colorado.

In this week’s edition of Last Call: Minnesota’s Summit Brewing has announced plans to pull its beer out of six states: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, and Michigan. Also, Golden Road Brewing co-founder Meg Gill defends her company’s planned beer garden in Oakland, Caif.

Beer continues to be the big growth driver for Constellation Brands. On Thursday, the wine, spirits and beer maker reported its annual earnings, which were boosted by $4.2 billion in net beer revenues for the fiscal year ending February 28, a 17 percent increase over the prior year.

Constellation Brands laid a plank in its succession plan on Wednesday with the appointment of Bill Newlands to the newly created position of chief operating officer, effective January 30.

Constellation Brands’ run of double-digit revenue growth continued in the third quarter of fiscal 2017, with the company’s CEO, Rob Sands, crediting 16 percent growth across its beer brands as contributing to its overall 10 percent growth for the quarter.

The board of directors for Constellation Brands — the high-end maker of Ballast Point and import brands Modelo and Corona — has approved a share buyback program of up to $1 billion of the company’s common stock.

The high end beer segment is poised to grow by 170 million cases over the next two years, according to Constellation Brands executive vice president Paul Hetterich. Speaking to more than 200 beer industry professionals attending the Beer Marketer’s Insights winter seminar, Hetterich, as well as leaders from Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors, discussed the consumer shift toward high end products and their companies’ strategies for competing in that segment.