Anheuser-Busch InBev may be the top beer manufacturer in the world, but it has a way to go in spirits. “We are the competition,” A-B CEO Michel Doukeris said of the company’s position in the spirits category during Thursday’s Q2 earnings call.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) outperformed the U.S. beer industry in the first quarter of 2026, the company reported Tuesday. In the U.S., A-B’s Q1 depletions (sales to retailers) increased 0.3% year-over-year (YoY), which the company credited to “beer and beyond beer share gains and an improved industry.” Shipments (sales to wholesalers) declined 3.2%.
Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits’ ambitions for Anheuser-Busch InBev’s portfolio aren’t limited to New York. The wine and spirits juggernaut has struck another deal for a red network distributor, this time for the assets of Eagle Rock Distributing Co. in Colorado.
Check out news items initially reported in the Brewbound Insider Newsletter August 20-21, including headlines from the Brewers Association, Constellation Brands, Sierra Nevada and more.
The largest beer companies in the U.S. continue to shift their attention toward their growing spirits-based offerings. And it’s tough to blame them, given beer’s performance so far this year.
Anheuser-Busch InBev’s U.S. business in Q2 recorded declines in depletions and shipments of 1.9% and 0.6%, respectively, the company reported Thursday morning.
Ten years ago, the Justice Department (DOJ) allowed the world’s largest brewer (Anheuser-Busch InBev) to buy the world’s second largest brewer (SABMiller), but only after imposing rules designed to protect competition and keep the market open. Those rules expire this month. This is what they did, and why their expiration matters.
In the midst of a summer of hard sports drinks and the revitalization of light beer, Goose Island is hoping to steer the conversation toward dark, moody imperial stouts for at least a little bit. The Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned craft brewery has revealed its dessert-laden 2026 Bourbon County Brand Stout (BCBS) lineup. The barrel-aged stout family is traditionally released on Black Friday (November 27 this year).
Lost Coast Brewing founder Barbara Groom is looking for a buyer for her nearly 40-year-old craft brewery. Groom plans to retire after 37 years of running the Eureka, California-based craft brewery, she told ProBrewer.
A leadership shakeup has happened at Pennsylvania’s New Trail Brewing. Founder and CEO David Hertwig is transitioning “into a more strategic role,” rather than daily operations, while keeping his c-suite title.
Kirin-owned New Belgium Brewing – including the Voodoo Ranger-powered New Belgium brand and Bell’s Brewery – now ranks as the largest non-Brewers Association craft beer family, overtaking Molson Coors’ craft brands, according to data released in the trade organization’s May/June edition of the New Brewer magazine.
Breakthru Drivers Strike in Illinois & Missouri; Diageo Beer USA Net Sales +9.1%, Global Net Sales +2.3%; Monster Q1 Alcohol Net Sales -5.9%; Hard Seltzers Increasingly Top-Heavy Market; A-B CMO: ‘25 is the New 21’; Molson Coors Reveals Keystone Light Apple Cans.
Check out news items that were initially reported in the Brewbound Insider Newsletter April 27-29, including headlines from RNDC, the Odom Corporation and Constellation Brands.
With recent warmer weather comes an uptick in bev-alc dollar sales, which flipped to positive (+0.5%) in the two-week period ending April 4 – a sequential improvement from -0.8% in the four-week window and -1.2% in the 12-weeks, according to the latest analysis of NIQ data from Goldman Sachs Equity Research.
A pair of big red network distribution deals were announced in the last 24 hours. Anheuser-Busch InBev has agreed to purchase the distribution rights of its brands, as well as “certain craft/NA brands,” from Advance Beverage Company in Bakersfield, California. Meanwhile, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits inked a deal for independent A-B distributor Clare Rose on Long Island.