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.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) has revealed its new energy drink line Phorm Energy, as the beer giant seeks to make its presence felt in a category that has become increasingly important, and unstable, to beer distributors in recent years. Using the tagline “We do the Work,” Phorm Energy aims to deliver “energy, hydration and focus” through a zero-sugar, four-SKU line of 16 oz cans in four flavors.
Volume at craft breweries outside of the Brewers Association’s (BA) definition of small and independent declined 4% on a comparable basis, to 6.752 million barrels, in 2024, the trade group reported in the May/June edition of The New Brewer magazine.
Distributors have become increasingly more pessimistic about beer. But how do they feel about the biggest suppliers and their outlooks for 2025? Investment banking firm Jefferies asked this question in its latest beer distributor survey, which represented portfolios from Tilray (60% of respondents), Constellation (55%), Anheuser-Busch InBev [A-B] (50%), Molson Coors (50%), Boston Beer (40%) and more.
Beverage-alcohol’s embrace of flavor and craft beer’s shifting distribution trends were among spotlighted issues during last week’s Beer Marketer’s Insights Spring Conference in Chicago. Leaders from BeatBox Beverages, Boston Beer Company, Atomic Brands, Columbia Distributing and Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) shared where their business and the beer category is heading. Here are a few soundbites from the conference.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) is shaking up its distribution network for its spirits-based, ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail brands. The moves are concentrated in California, where A-B told Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) it would move the Cutwater Spirits RTD family to Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits (SGWS).
There’s a big change coming to this year’s Bourbon County Brand Stout (BCBS) release: It’s getting smaller. Goose Island will package Original BCBS in 4-packs of 10 oz. bottles.
Anheuser-Busch (A-B) InBev recorded mid-single-digit losses in revenue (-5.1%), shipments (-6.7%) and depletions (-5.4%) in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2025, the company reported Thursday.
Few were immune to beer’s tough March, even the country’s largest beer vendors, according to the latest monthly report from market research firm Circana.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) continues to reshuffle its craft brewing operations. The world’s largest beer manufacturer announced a $1 million investment in Wicked Weed’s Asheville, North Carolina-based operations that coincides with the winding down of operations at its 104,000 sq. ft. production facility in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, “over the next few months.”
Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) recorded a positive Q4 in its U.S. business, marking a new “inflection point” for the company, leadership shared early this morning with the release of its Q4 and full-year 2024 financials, and accompanying earnings call with investors and analysts.
Beer category dollar sales were roughly flat (-0.3%) to start the year at off-premise retailers tracked by market research firm Circana. Sales reached $2.854 billion at multi-outlet grocery, mass retail and convenience stores (MULO+C) in the first four weeks of 2025, through January 26.
Just like the Kansas City Chiefs, draft beer also took an L in Super Bowl LIX. Draft beer volume declined -4.6% nationwide on Super Bowl Sunday, according to on-premise insights firm BeerBoard.
Super Bowl LIX attendees will have a choice of “American” lagers – as opposed to “domestic” beers at the Caesars Superdome on Sunday. The switch follows Anheuser-Busch InBev U.S. CEO Brendan Whitworth’s call for “domestic” beers to be reclassified as “American” beers in a 600-word missive to distributors earlier this week, first reported by Beer Business Daily.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) has reached an agreement with Bellingham, Washington-headquartered Sound Beverage Distributors to acquire brand rights to A-B’s portfolio and other products.
