Distributors expect the hard seltzer segment to end the year with 155% growth and come close to doubling in 2021 with much of the growth coming from leading brands, White Claw (Mark Anthony Brands) and Truly Hard Seltzer (Boston Beer Company), according to a report from Goldman Sachs Equity Research arm.
Industry watchdog group Alcohol Justice is urging California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to conduct an independent investigation of Anheuser-Busch InBev and Reyes Holdings for what it believes could be antitrust violations related to acquisitions each company has made in the state.
Consumers are continuing to trade up in their alcoholic beverage purchases, even as the COVID-19 pandemic-induced economic downturn continues, Brewers Association (BA) chief economist Bart Watson said during a webinar last week. “People still see beer as an affordable luxury, while beer has taken on a lot of price relative to wine and spirits,” he said.
Just two weeks after closing on the acquisition of Atlanta’s Sweetwater Brewing Company, Canadian cannabis company Aphria has reached an agreement to merge with Tilray, forming the world’s largest cannabis company valued at $3.8 billion.
Two of the largest beverage alcohol producers in the country are teaming up. Pabst Brewing Company and Jack Daniel’s maker Brown-Froman today announced a partnership in which Pabst will produce, sell and distribute Jack Daniel’s Country Cocktails, the whiskey brand’s line of flavored malt beverages.
Brewbound Live wraps up today. Registered attendees can access all live presentations, networking and on-demand content through the virtual venue.
Just in time for “Dry January,” Brooklyn Brewery will launch the next offering within its fast-growing non-alcoholic beer line Special Effects. The New York craft brewery today officially announced the addition of an IPA to the Special Effects portfolio to go along with Hoppy Amber.
The nation’s supply of carbon dioxide is expected to be able to meet brewers’ needs, even as the dry ice industry’s demand increases for the shipment and storage of COVID-19 vaccines. “There is enough capacity in the system to meet the 5% we’re anticipating that the dry ice needs will increase by,” CGA president and CEO Rich Gottwald told Brewbound.
San Diego-based Societe Brewing is moving wholesaler networks in California. Effective January 4, Societe’s offerings will be distributed by Stone Distributing throughout Southern California, Brewbound has learned.
On-premise retail sales will not rebound to pre-pandemic levels in 2021, Brewers Association (BA) chief economist Bart Watson shared yesterday in a webinar for members of the trade group. “The on-premise is not fully going to recover next year,” he said.
An up-and-coming hard seltzer brand focused on Asian fruit flavors has won the 2020 edition of Brewbound’s Pitch Slam Competition, presented by Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Brewers Collective craft division. Lunar Hard Seltzer, a New York-based hard seltzer brand, won the 12th edition of the Pitch Slam competition, which invites entrepreneurs in the alcoholic beverage industry to compete before a panel of industry experts.
The Cincinnati Beverage Company (CinBev) will shift production of its four beer brands — including Christian Moerlein Brewing Company — to an unnamed contract brewing partner. “Right now, this is really about returning to quality, consistency and reliability for us,” chief marketing officer Jodi Woffington told Brewbound.
The BA, which represents the nation’s small and independent brewers, is advocating for several measures at the federal level that would support craft breweries, whose businesses have been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the wake of several terminations by a handful of larger beer suppliers over the last two years, a group of California beer wholesalers have launched a new association, the California Family Beer Distributors (CFBD).
