Beyond Beer

The volume compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for premium and above-premium vodka in the US market has steadily decreased since 2015, dropping -3.1% from 2015 to 2019, and -3.5% in 2020 alone, according to the market research firm IWSR Drinks Market Analysis.

An overwhelming majority of distributors say a shakeout is coming to the hard seltzer segment and retailer shelves in 2022, according to the most recent Beverage Bytes survey from Goldman Sachs’ equity research team.

Hard seltzer’s late summer slowdown has pushed several financial services firms to adjust their forecast for the sparkling segment’s performance. “We are incrementally more cautious on the beer and hard seltzer category based on feedback from our beer distributor contacts in our new proprietary ‘Beverage Bytes’ survey,” Goldman Sachs equity research analyst Bonnie Herzog wrote in a report published today.

Los Angeles-based Nectar hard seltzer almost failed before it launched.

Ready-to-drinks (RTDs) are one of the fastest growing categories in beverage alcohol, but between confusion of how to define the segment, obfuscation of base alcohols, and murky ownership structures of certain brands, it can be difficult for consumers to know what they’re buying and who’s making it.

Hard seltzer’s popularity hasn’t waned with college-aged consumers, who ranked White Claw and Truly among their favorite brands in a study conducted from July 2-8 by the Generation Lab, a polling and research firm that specializes in tracking youth views and behaviors.

Ayr Wellness Inc. has entered into a binding letter of intent to acquire 100% of Massachusetts-based Cultivana, the parent company of cannabis-infused beverage brand Levia, for $20 million, the two companies announced earlier this week. The transaction is for $10 million in cash and the rest in stock. An additional $40 million will be paid in shares based on performance in 2022 and 2023. The deal is expected to close at the end of this year.

Production has begun at City Brewing’s Irwindale, California-based facility, five months after the brewery’s acquisition from Pabst Brewing, the company announced today.

Canadian cannabis producer Tilray Inc. has acquired a majority stake in the debt and warrants of dispensary chain MedMen in a deal valued at $165.8 million, the company announced today.

The rise of ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktails isn’t going anywhere this fall, according to e-commerce beverage alcohol delivery platform Drizly in its BevAlc Insights’ “Top Predictions for Fall 2021 Sales” report.

Lagunitas’ major innovation play for 2022 is not a new IPA — or a beer at all — but a hard sparkling tea, leaders of the Heineken-owned craft brewery announced today. Disorderly TeaHouse will launch in January ahead of March off-premise resets, Lagunitas chief marketing officer Paige Guzman told Brewbound.

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) spirits sales represents a $2.5-$3 billion opportunity for the industry, David Ozgo, chief economist for the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), said during the latest episode of Rabobank’s Liquid Assets podcast.

Non-alcoholic (NA) beer, wine and spirits continues to be one of the fastest-growing segments on the e-commerce beverage platform Drizly.

Massachusetts-based hard seltzer brand Willie’s Superbrew was midway through a call with the supermarket chain Harris Teeter when the buyer interjected…