Imports

An estimated 11.9 million barrels of beer were shipped in February, a +7.9% increase year-over-year (YoY), marking the “strongest monthly growth in almost three years, since May 2021,” Beer Institute (BI) chief economist Andrew Heritage wrote in the trade group’s latest round of economic reports, citing estimates from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).

Constellation Brands leaders laid out a vision for “dialing up” growth for its portfolio of Mexican import offerings over the next five years during Monday’s opening session of its Gold Network Summit at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

Imports have been one of the few beer segments to consistently record off-premise growth over the past year, and a similar story is playing out in the on-premise, according to NIQ’s on-premise market research arm, CGA.

It’s not a matter of if but when Modelo Especial will become the nation’s No. 1 beer brand in dollar sales, Constellation Brands Beer Division president Jim Sabia told wholesalers Tuesday during the company’s Gold Network Summit in Las Vegas.

Constellation Brands continues to be the golden child for distributors with the growth of its Mexican imports, Goldman Sachs analyst Bonnie Herzog reported in her Q3 “Beverage Bytes” survey.

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

Off-premise dollar sales of ready-to-drink canned cocktails (RTDs) and hard seltzers have more than doubled in the past three years, increasing +155% since 2019 (through January 8, 2022), according to NielsenIQ data, shared by the Beer Institute’s (BI) VP of research Danelle Kosmal during a webinar Thursday.

Molson Coors is making its first significant move into the Mexican import category. The company today announced that it had inked a 10-year agreement, via its MillerCoors U.S. division, to import, market and distribute Heineken’s Mexican-made Sol brand.