In-store displays “are more effective at selling beer” compared to “shrinking” shelf space, Kaumil Gajrawala, analyst for financial services firm Jefferies, wrote in a late June analysis.
This summer is shaping up to be one of the most unpredictable seasons that Columbia Distributing CEO Chris Steffanci has ever experienced.
Non-alcoholic beer, Italian imports and fruit-forward offerings are just a few of the summer trends popping in Total Wine & More and Whole Foods Market stores. Total Wine’s Adrea Starr and Whole Foods Market’s Mary Guiver offered insights into what they’re seeing as summer sets in.
“Weakness continues” in beverage-alcohol off-premise trends, according to the latest weekly report from market research firm Circana. Total bev-alc scan data continued to decline in dollars (-3.3%) and volume (-4.8%) for the one-week period ending June 8.
Almost exactly eight years since acquiring Whole Foods Market, Amazon is on the verge of restructuring the natural grocery chain’s leadership.
Although still in decline, craft beer’s dollar sales and volume losses eased up in May, according to the most recent off-premise report from market research firm Circana.
Overall beer category dollar sales declined in Q1 2025 compared to Q1 2024, but those losses were unbalanced between the channels, according to the most recent report from the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) and Fintech. Beer dollar sales reached an estimated $15.8 billion in the first quarter of the year, down about 4% year-over-year (YoY).
2025’s drinking occasions just can’t hold a candle to 2024, it seems. In the lead up to St. Patrick’s Day (week ending March 16), off-premise bev-alc sales recorded a -3.9% decline year-over-year (YoY), market research firm Circana reported in its newest batch of weekly data. Holiday shopping delivered a +5% increase week-over-week (WoW).
Maryland lawmakers are considering a bill that would expand beer and wine sales licenses to the state’s grocery, convenience, mass retail and warehouse stores. However, House Bill 1379 “faced tough questioning in committee and faces a tough road to passage in the House,” Maryland Matters reported, citing a nearly three-hour debate over it last week.
Total Wine & More shared its list of the top brands sold in its Kansas City and Philadelphia area stores for the Super Bowl. Home-market brand families – Boulevard in Kansas City and Surfside in Philly – topped the lists in their respective cities.
Resealable packages, smaller sizes and non-carbonated beverages are among the hot bev-alc trends Total Wine & More’s senior leadership team are watching in 2025.
The proposed $24.6 billion Kroger/Albertsons mega-merger was temporarily blocked today by a federal judge, who ruled in favor of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) suing to block the deal.
Could craft off-premise scan data be beginning to turn the corner as the calendar heads toward the holidays? In the four-week period ending November 3 (L4W), craft dollar sales declined -1.9% year-over-year (YoY) and volume (case sales) declined -3.4% in multi-outlet grocery, mass retail and convenience stores (MULO+C), according to the most recent report from market research firm Circana.
Beer industry trends have been largely discouraging lately, but one retailer – albeit a mostly private label one – is bucking them. “We are crushing it in beer right now,” Aldi director of buying for adult beverages Arlin Zajmi told Brewbound.
Circle K owner Alimentation Couche-Tard has offered a “friendly proposal” to acquire the Japanese operator of 7-Eleven in a move that could mark major consolidation of the global convenience channel. If successful, the combined entity would become one of the largest retail businesses in the world.
