Constellation Brands

Executives from Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B), Molson Coors Beverage Company and Constellation Brands all championed core beer during Beer Marketer’s Insights’ Beer Insights Seminar Monday in New York City.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for beer away from home increased +7% in October 2022 compared to October 2021, the largest price increase ever recorded for the category, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Constellation Brands is simplifying its approach to the cannabis industry as the company announced plans today to convert its common shares of Ontario-based Canopy Growth Corporation into new non-voting exchangeable shares.

Many new beverage-alcohol products on display at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) trade show earlier this month in Las Vegas “[f]ocused on premiumization, convenience, betterment and enhanced flavor profiles,” according to Goldman Sachs senior equity research analyst Bonnie Herzog.

Constellation Brands’ beer business reported double-digit shipment and net sales growth along with nearly 9% depletions growth in the second quarter of its 2023 fiscal year.

Beer Kulture, Brave Noise, and Women of Bevolution have launched a grant program aimed at helping underserved groups launch businesses in the craft beverage industry.

After a successful trial, Constellation Brands will expand its Modelo line extension Oro nationwide in March 2023, the company announced. Modelo Oro – a lower-calorie, lower-carbohydrate light beer intended to appeal to drinkers looking for better-for-them options – was one of several innovation productions Constellation introduced this spring for simultaneous test launches in various markets.

Pricing was the clear theme of the question-and-answer portion of Constellation Brands’ first quarter FY2023 earnings call on Thursday. More specifically, analysts were wondering why the company is hesitant to increase price in an inflationary environment. CEO Bill Newlands reiterated that Constellation’s “long-term algorithm on pricing is +1%-2%,” although last year it increased beer prices +3.5%.

Constellation’s beer depletions increased +8.7%, while shipments grew +17.3%, to 99.5 million case equivalents during the first quarter of its 2023 fiscal year, the company reported today. Net sales increased +21%, to more than $1.898 billion, with gross profit of more than $1 billion (+14%). The beer business’ operating income also increased +13%, to $762.8 million.

Large regional breweries that fall outside of the BA’s definition of a craft brewer collectively produced more than 8.64 million barrels of beer in 2021, a +2% increase on a comparable basis, according to data provided by the trade organization. The BA excludes companies that are at least 25% owned by a larger brewing company from its craft brewery data set and sets a production ceiling for BA-defined craft brewers at 6 million barrels.

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s beyond beer division is organizing itself around four priorities: hard seltzers, Cutwater Spirits, Nütrl Vodka Seltzer and Ghost Energy, beyond beer business unit president Fabricio Zonzini shared during Beer Marketer’s Insights’ spring conference in Chicago last week.

The majority of distributors (70%) are seeing better growth for beer this spring, respondents told financial services firm Jefferies in a survey published today.

Another independent canned cocktail maker boarded the “mother ship” last week when Constellation Brands announced the full acquisition of Austin Cocktails. It’s a move that’s in-step with the other global beverage companies picking up fast-growing RTD producers — but observers in the industry caution that the deal may not be the harbinger future RTD acquisitions.

Constellation Brands executive vice president and beer division chair Paul Hetterich died yesterday at age 59 following “a series of health issues in recent years,” the company announced to wholesalers today.