Molson Coors received the highest overall rank in Tamarron Consulting’s 26th annual Brewer Partnership Compass survey, which analyzes top brewing companies’ relationships with their distributor partners.
Tamarron’s 47-question survey found that Molson Coors performed well in key areas such as “relationships and communication, off-premise chain accounts, planning and plan management, and in-market support,” the firm shared Wednesday. Responses from 171 distributors from across the U.S. were fielded between early April and mid-May.
Molson Coors’ 2024 survey rank of 4.20 (on a scale of 1 to 5) was “the highest among all suppliers,” and marked “a significant improvement” compared to last year, gaining +0.14 points, Tamarron reported.
Boston Beer Company (4.14) and Constellation Brands (4.13) ranked second and third, respectively, maintaining their year-over-year (YoY) ranks. Constellation received the highest marks in partnership, while Boston Beer excelled in building and maintaining distributor relationships.
The rest of the top eight shook out, as follows:
- Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) 3.92;
- New Belgium 3.79;
- Mark Anthony Brands 3.75;
- Heineken USA 3.72;
- Diageo Beer Company 3.60.
The industry average score was 3.90. Tamarron noted that all eight brewers in the 2024 survey showed YoY improvement. Those improvements were due to “better communication, strategic planning, and effective execution of market initiatives.”
New Belgium also posted high marks in both relationships (92%) and partnership (90%). A-B posted the lowest marks in relationships (71%), followed by Heineken (74%), while Heineken posted the lowest marks in partnership (43%), followed by A-B (48%).
The 2024 survey found that “leadership and strategy” was the only category to score above the 4.00 benchmark, for the second consecutive year. Although “on-premise chain accounts” has historically seen the lowest scores, the lowest scoring category in 2024 was “in-market support.”
Tamarron also asked distributors for the first time to rank the top three most important “capability categories” in 2024. Those, in order, included:
- “Leadership and strategy;”
- “Portfolio and marketing;”
- “Relationships and communication.”
Tamarron asked wholesalers which key areas suppliers could improve. Those areas included:
- “Supply chain and inventory management;”
- “Communication and collaboration;”
- “Marketing and brand focus;”
- “Innovation and product development.”
The firm also asked distributors how suppliers could “break through the clutter and become a preferred partner.” The top replies included:
- “Communication and involvement” (30%);
- “Supply chain and inventory management” (20%);
- “SKU management and innovation (17%);
- “Training and education” (10%);
- “Margins and financial support (8%);
- “Data sharing and analytics” (8%);
- “Simplification and focus” (5%);
- “Legislative support” (2%).
“Distributors emphasized the importance of timely and transparent communication, robust local market support, and proactive collaboration to achieve mutual business growth,” Tamarron wrote. “These recommendations provide a roadmap for brewers to enhance their relationships with distributors and address common challenges effectively.”
Distributors told Tamarron they are seeking better communication; streamlined portfolios with underperforming SKUs cut and realistic innovation goals with a focus on high potential innovations; healthy margins, especially on high end offerings; more flexibility in pricing models; shared marketing and outdated product costs; and data and insights “to optimize decision-making and sales.” They also shared a “growing interest in spirit-based ready-to-drink beverages” and beyond beer offerings.