A look back at last week’s top stories … with gifs.

Constellation Brands has raised its full-year operating income guidance for its beer brands to +7% to +8% (previously +6% to +7%), following another quarter of shipments and depletions growth, the company reported today in its Q3 earnings results.

Japanese brewing giant Asahi announced it has struck a deal to acquire Waunakee, Wisconsin-based contract brewer Octopi Brewing.

Matagrano, an independent South San Francisco-based Anheuser-Busch distributor, has inked a deal to acquire Bottomley Distributing, which services Silicon Valley and the South Bay Area.

We checked in with a data analyst, consultant and major retailer buyer on the drivers they are watching in 2024, including what investors will be looking for, where there might be white space in hot categories, and how retailers are making buying decisions.

The “misalignment” of growth strategies across the supplier, wholesaler and retailer tiers will continue to be a problem for bev-alc in 2024, according to Bump Williams in the first Bump Williams Consulting (BWC) Monthly Industry Update of the year.

Martignetti Companies has closed on its acquisition of Quality Beverage, according to a press release. Financial terms of the deal, which was announced in April 2023, were not disclosed.

Fellow beer industry journalists Kate Bernot and Christopher Shepard join the Brewbound Podcast to recall the bev-alc/non-alc crossover brand madness of 2023, craft beer’s stormy seas and a potentially grim outlook for draft beer sales.

Landing in a wholesaler’s warehouse is a big win for a supplier, but it’s often just the first step in a journey that ultimately ends in a consumer’s fridge. Stone Distributing general manager Brian Fried, Breakthru Beverage California director of beer Sinead Carey and Tryon Distributing director of beer Elledge Davis shared the questions and tasks suppliers need to ask and accomplish along the way during the Brewbound Live business conference last month in Marina del Rey, California.

From the continued rise of the espresso martini to savory cocktails, 2023 was a year of bold flavors at the bar, so what’s in store for 2024? We polled experts in spirits, flavor innovation and mocktails about what trends are on tap for cocktails and ready-to-drink versions.

Tree House co-owners Nate Lanier and Damien Goudreau are denying allegations against them, filed in November by a minority shareholder, including claims they have misused company funds, failed to offer shareholder dividends, withheld tax documentation and more.

The deal environment within the craft brewing industry is “a bit slow” with “a lot of volatility, a lot of uncertainty,” which isn’t very conducive to dealmaking, Arlington Capital Advisors managing director Ryan Lake shared during the 2023 Brewbound Live business conference earlier this month.

Overall beer ordering contracted again in December after spending one month in expansion territory, according to the National Beer Wholesalers Association’s (NBWA) Beer Purchasers’ Index (BPI).

While the amount of bars and restaurants in operation has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, beer’s on-premise business has yet to bounce back, with keg volume expected to be 2.5 million barrels below where it should be by the end of 2023, according to the Brewers Association.