Monster Beverage expects to take another impairment charge on Monster Brewing, the bev-alc division created after it acquired CANarchy, executives shared during a conference call for investors Tuesday.
The once-booming flavored malt beverage (FMB) segment is “showing some concerning declarations over recent weeks,” Bump Williams Consulting (BWC) founder Bump Williams noted in a recent report. FMB volume gains dropped by half – from +2.2%, to +1.1% – from the four-week period to the one-week period ending May 18, according to NIQ retail measurement data cited by BWC.
Hard tea continued to fill Boston Beer’s sails in Q2, but it was newbie Sun Cruiser that put in the brunt of the work rather than veteran Twisted Tea, company leadership shared Thursday during a call with investors and analysts.
Mark Anthony Brands is in the early stages of transitioning Mike’s Hard 6-pack bottles to cans.
Michigan-based beverage-alcohol platform Benchmark Beverages has taken a minority investment in Blake’s Beverage Co. and the two companies have launched a commercial partnership. Benchmark (Dark Horse, Roak, Brew Detroit, Great America) and Blake’s Beverage Co. (Blake’s Hard Cider, Austin Eastciders, Avid Cider) aim to “accelerate growth and shake up the beyond-beer category with fresh innovation and national scale,” according to a press release.
Editor’s Note: 3 Up, 3 Down with 3 Tier Beverages is a quarterly insights series available exclusively to Brewbound Insiders, via the Chicago-headquartered, bev-alc-focused consulting and data firm. In this latest installment of 3 Up, 3 Down, 3 Tier consultant Danelle Kosmal analyzes data trends in flavor-forward bev-alc, high ABV offerings, pricing 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.
2025 kicked off with cautious optimism for the beer category, but that has been quickly subdued after a disappointing February and Super Bowl performance, according to Bump Williams Consulting’s (BWC) monthly report, citing NIQ off-premise data (total U.S. xAOC + liquor + convenience) through mid-February.
After ending fiscal year 2024 (FY24) with single-digit volume declines, Boston Beer is planning to dial in on key innovation items and support its portfolio with increased advertising in 2025.
FIFCO USA has unveiled several changes coming to its flavored malt beverage (FMB) brand Seagram’s Escapes, including the addition of slim cans and the reformulation of some core flavors.
Global spirits giant Suntory Holdings revealed today the creation of a new business unit, Suntory RTD Company North America, focused on malt-based, ready-to-drink (RTD) offerings with the first release expected to hit U.S. retailers in mid-January 2025.
Duvel USA-owned Boulevard’s beyond beer offshoot Quirk is tea-ing up a 2025 innovation slate that touches on hot trends in the fourth category. Quirk Hard Tea (4% ABV) will roll out in early 2025 with a standalone lemonade tea offering and a variety pack, executives announced to wholesalers during Duvel USA’s virtual wholesaler summit last week.
Hard seltzers remain down double-digits through mid-July in Circana-tracked off-premise retailers. Hard seltzer declined -11.8% in dollars and -16.1% in volume through the rolling 52-week period ending July 14.
Flavor-forward innovations are driving beer category growth and this trend is accelerating, according to the most recent report from Bump Williams Consulting (BWC). Of the top 25 growth brands at total U.S. off-premise outlets year-to-date (YTD) through June 15, 13 were “flavor-centric” or ready-to-drink (RTD) offerings, BWC founder Bump Williams noted, citing data from market research firm NIQ.
Schilling Cider has no plans to jump on the hard tea train, but the Pacific Northwest cidery still plans to meet similar consumer demand with its latest product launch: Schilling Hard Lemonade.
Pabst Brewing has taken its El Jimador Spiked Bebidas tequila-inspired flavored malt beverage (FMB) national, in just one of its several beyond beer innovation expansion plans for 2024.
