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.
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.
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.
Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) Michelob Ultra was Numero Uno on Cinco de Mayo, according to the latest report from on-premise insights firm BeerBoard.
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.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) has closed its previously announced acquisition of BeatBox Beverages, the companies shared today.
Michelob Ultra Zero is now the No. 1 non-alcoholic beer brand by volume in off-premise scans tracked by Circana for the 12-week period ending February 8, Anheuser-Busch InBev shared this week. A-B hailed the brand as the “fastest-growing” NA beer in the industry. Although Michelob Ultra Zero is the top NA volume brand, it trails Heineken 0.0 in dollar sales.
Strong performance from its standout brands – including Michelob Ultra, Busch Light and Cutwater Spirits – was not enough to offset declines in other areas for Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) U.S. business in 2025.
On a night when 23% of the Super Bowl ads promoted AI, Americana and beer came out on top in USA Today’s Ad Meter rankings.
Young Lion Gets New Owner; Ex-Employee Sues Legion Brewing; Samuel Adams Drop a Cherry Bomb; Budweiser Drops Super Bowl LX Ad; People Moves at Holidaily, Bell’s; Athletic’s Bill Shufelt on Bold Names; Womrtown’s Patriot Place Taproom Gets a ‘Glow Up.’
Future Proof Brands, the Austin-based parent company of BeatBox Beverages, plans to lay off 158 employees following Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) majority share acquisition of the party punch maker.
Off-premise beverage-alcohol sales recorded a third consecutive year-over-year (YoY) increase during the week ending January 11, according to market research firm Circana’s most recent weekly scan data report.
Russian River Brewing Company [RRBC] (Windsor & Santa Rosa, California) has begun donating proceeds from Russian River 110 West Coast Pils to Russian Riverkeeper, a local non-profit climate organization focused on its eponymous river.
