Beyond Beer

Athletic Brewing Company and Ceria Brewing Company, two up-and-coming non-alcoholic craft beer companies, are expanding their footprints into several new states.

Hard seltzers are continuing to attract new consumers, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study conducted by market research firm Nielsen. During the eight-week period during the COVID-19 outbreak, the number of consumers buying hard seltzer nearly doubled, as 44% of hard seltzer buyers were doing so for the first time, according to the study.

The hard seltzer segment is on pace to capture 10% of the beer category dollar sales by this summer, according to Cowen analyst Vivien Azer. Last week, hard seltzer segment’s share of beer category dollar sales reached 8.8%, according to market research firm Nielsen. And there are no signs that the segment is slowing down.

Two of the largest hard seltzer makers are launching new offerings outside of the segment’s standard 5% ABV, 100-calorie playbook.

After a corporate restructuring in the fourth quarter of 2019 and a bevy of new products hitting the market in the New Year, Molson Coors Beverage Company was poised for a strong 2020. But then the COVID-19 outbreak shutdown on-premise bars and restaurants in mid-March, and everything changed. In the first quarter of 2020, Molson Coors’ net sales revenue declined 8.7%.

The story of Boston Beer Company’s Truly Hard Seltzer brand remains the same; the company can’t keep up with demand for the hard seltzer category’s second largest brand. The mid-March pantry stock up caused by the novel coronavirus shutting down virtually all on-premise sales led to a spike in Truly sales earlier than expected.

Two months after Constellation Brands made a minority investment in Press Premium Alcohol Seltzer, the company’s chief commercial officer for its beer division, Bruce Jacobson, announced he is leaving the beer, wine and spirits company after 17 years to join the Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based hard seltzer maker.

With the loss of tasting room and on-premise sales, members of the American Cider Association have been forced to pivot to curbside sales, virtual tastings and bundles sold through e-commerce, ACA executive director Michelle McGrath explained.

The crowd-sourced fund to support the families of victims of the shooting at Molson Coors Brewing Company’s Milwaukee campus last month has topped $1.1 million. The fund, which reached $1,178,770 as of press time, was set up on behalf of the National Compassion Fund, a program of the National Center for Victims of Crime. All funds collected will go directly to the families of the five victims.

Surprising to almost no one, beer dominated social media conversations about alcoholic beverages during Super Bowl LIV, according to consumer insights firm Social Standards.

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s revenue increased 4.3%, to $52 billion, in 2019, but executives within the world’s largest beer company said Thursday that the growth fell short of expectations.