Nearly three years after being acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev, Los Angeles’ Golden Road Brewing is beginning to see the advantages of being owned by the world’s largest beer manufacturer. In the last six months, Golden Road has launched its flagship Wolf Pup Session IPA nationally, and opened a pair of satellite brewpubs in California. According to market research firm IRI Worldwide’s multi-outlet and convenience (MULC) universe of stores, sales of the company’s beer have increased 100 percent through April 29.
After releasing its first quarter earnings results on Wednesday, which were marked by a 4 percent decline in depletions, Craft Brew Alliance CEO Andy Thomas addressed the “relative turmoil within the marketplace” during a call with investors and analysts. “The trends are consistent and increasingly clear,” he said. “Consumers are changing how, where, and with what they socialize. And the impacts on our industry continued to be profound.”
In this week’s edition of Last Call: Another brewery files for bankruptcy; Stone seeks to dismiss MillerCoors’ counterclaims; Tree House and Jester King announce expansion plans; BrewDog and Terrapin announce new hires; and more.
The Beer Institute (BI) is forecasting U.S. beer shipments to decline between one and three percent in 2018, chief economist Michael Uhrich shared during the national trade association’s “State of the Industry” webinar today.
With more than 6,300 breweries competing for consumer mindshare in today’s crowded beer environment, standing out is a “constant battle.” That’s how Neal Stewart, vice president of marketing for Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, described the difficulty of differentiating a craft brand in 2018 during last week’s Brew Talks meetup, held during the annual Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) today reported its first quarter 2018 earnings, which were highlighted by a 9 percent increase in shipments, to 167,000 barrels, on soft comps from a year ago. In a press release, the company – which makes and markets the Kona, Widmer Brothers, Redhook, Omission, and Square Mile Cider brands – said net sales increased 7 percent, to $47.5 million, while gross profit increased 19 percent, to $15.1 million, during the quarter.
Calagione — along with Brooklyn Brewery VP Dave Duffy, The BWC Company director of analytics Dave Williams and Lowes Foods senior category manager Charles Slezak — discussed the evolving craft landscape and more during a panel discussion on “Retail Strategies for Craft Brewers.
Anheuser-Busch InBev today reported global revenue growth of 4.7 percent in the first quarter of 2018 even as the company’s domestic shipments and depletions decreased due to continued declines of the its flagship lager brands. A-B, the world’s largest beer manufacturer, recorded global revenue of more than $13 billion during the quarter and a gross profit of more than $8 billion. The company’s revenue per hectoliter increased 4.9 percent.
More than a month after Sonoma Beverage Works lost its investor funding and abruptly ceased operations, the assets of the Northern California cider and wine company are being liquidated. According to an April 17 notice to creditors, Sonoma Beverage Works, whose brands include Sonoma Cider and Ahoy Wines, transferred ownership of the company’s physical assets and intellectual property to Structured Solutions, a California-based liquidator, on April 7 in order to recoup creditors’ money.
Pete Coors, the chairman of Molson Coors’ board of directors, didn’t appreciate some of the comments that were made about large brewing companies during last week’s Craft Brewers Conference. The annual event — which was hosted by the Brewers Association (BA) and drew nearly 14,000 attendees from across the beer industry to Nashville, Tennessee, for a week of learning and socializing – began with a familiar refrain: “Big beer” is bad.
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s new menu labeling rules took effect today, ushering in a new wave of requirements for chain retailers. Going forward, chain restaurants, grocery outlets, and convenience stores with more than 20 locations will be required to post caloric and nutritional information for beer as well as other food and drinks sold on-premise that are considered “standard menu items.”
In the latest edition of People Moves: Worthy Brewing hires a new CEO; Heineken shuffles its executives; and David Coors takes over at AC Golden Brewing.
In this week’s edition of Last Call: Shipyard Brewing looks to pivot in Portland; the TTB collects record offer for alleged trade practice violations; Molson Coors reports Q2 earnings; and more.
Anheuser-Busch is making yet another sustainability-minded investment. The world’s largest beer company today announced plans to purchase upwards of 800 hydrogen-electric powered semi-trucks from Nikola Motor Company.
