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Duvel USA had a “challenging 2025,” just like lots of US beer and craft beer bizzes, CCO Bobby Dykstra confirmed with Craft Brew News this wk. Its total volume was down single digits overall, with craft brand fams Boulevard and Ommegang netting out more like down 10% to 150K bbls combined, we estimate. But sizable dropoff for Boulevard’s hard seltzer brand Quirk drove that, as Ommegang grew last yr and co’s import biz “had another year of growth,” too, Bobby shared. “Through some pricing and product mix, we were able to outperform revenue,” he added. “The top line might have been kind of tough for craft, tough for the midwest, but what’s swirling around underneath,” the co feels “pretty good” about. There’s good reason for that. Space Camper IPA is Boulevard’s top individual brand and it grew depletions 12% last yr, Bobby reported. And the total Space Camper franchise grew 17%. So despite declines elsewhere, with “that type of momentum,” at Boulevard HQ in Kansas City, the “vibe was still very, very good,” Bobby said. Its barrel-aged beers grew 5% and notched a smaller incremental win with launch of Boulevard Light, which co is keeping close-in for now. Plus, “Ommegang had a really nice year,” Bobby said, and “our imports had a wonderful year” as co “grew every draft beer brand that we had” within its import portfolio. Bad Start for Boulevard and Quirk Proved Hard to Turn Around Difficulties of last yr began early, explained Bobby and mktg veep for co’s US craft biz, Ali Bush. It “starts out with not winning the Super Bowl,” Bobby said of the KC-focused co that enjoyed 2 yrs in a row of playoff run-ups and big game wins by hometown Chiefs. Cycling those celebrations stung, Ali noted. And all yr, “beer was soft” in co’s core Missouri and Kansas mkts, Bobby shared, down slightly steeper than 5.2% avg decline across US, Beer Inst data shows. The headwinds continued when “the season for seltzer started later than we had expected,” Bobby noted. Winter held on longer, so earlier seasonal releases for co’s sizable Quirk brand fam “got stacked up.” Co “ended up canceling a seasonal release,” Bobby shared. So after remaining far healthier than overall hard seltzer category for a number of yrs, Quirk took a big step back in 2025, down double digits in NIQ scans. Space Camper Rising with Focus on Consistent Year-Round Brands Space Camper IPA is now firmly co’s #1 brand, and since it “grew again, double digits,” it’s also the clear top priority for the Duvel USA team. With “IPAs still growing in the midwest and in Kansas and Missouri,” Bobby sees “so much run room.” Part of what worked last yr was shifting focus away from rotating brands and toward solidifying the year-round lineup around the base brand, Ali told us. That includes imperial entry Quantum Hop, which “continued to grow and really picked up steam in its sophomore year,” Ali said. “Juicy offering” named Juice Nova debuted in late 2024 and got big incremental growth last yr, while new Chill Break, a 5% ABV entry closer to “the flavor profile of a dry-hop pilsner” offered incremental volume too. Co has a non-alc entry in the Space Camper portfolio now too, Ali shared. Going forward, building the brand becomes “less about innovation and seasonals” and more about consistent growth for this core group. To keep building local interest, co “took some learnings from Quirk” on the mktg side, Ali said, including doing a sponsored “entitlement game” with the Royals, stepping up influencer mktg with local content creators and expanding its relationship with the city’s Comicon. Keeping Draft Biz, Boulevard Light Tight Within the Space Camper portfolio, Duvel USA has also “been very disciplined to limit our offerings” on draft, Bobby shared. The focus is squarely on the base brand, not the whole portfolio, as they “don’t want that brand to rotate off.” Longtime Boulevard flagship Unfiltered Wheat “still has higher distribution on draft” and remains a “very high velocity brand,” Bobby noted. So co’s been working to grow Space Camper alongside it and “extending the lines that we have with Unfiltered Wheat.” Its next priority on draft is Boulevard Light, which hit close to $1 mil in sales in its first yr in scans despite entering a “very competitive environment.” But Bobby and team have tried to stay “disciplined” by “not getting over our skis too quickly,” there, “purposely controlling distribution in the first year” in home states of MO and KS. Draft biz for the brand so far has focused on “high velocity accounts” with the aim to build steadily over the next few yrs. Ommegang Building in Its Backyard; Imports Gain Under Separate Sales Team Upstate NY-based Ommegang grew last yr and remains around 15K bbls, Bobby shared. The “big driver” in the portfolio was higher-ABV golden ale Gnomegang, tho amber ale Rare Vos remains a “really strong draft beer for us” as well, he said. Co’s tried to “prioritize the backyard” and it’s helped. Both Ommegang and Duvel USA’s imports got more grocery distribution going into 2026 resets, “hard business to earn” that co’s hoping “will pay off well.” Co’s high-end Belgian imports keep growing, led by Duvel and Chouffe. “Both of them are gaining distribution, but most importantly velocity,” Bobby shared. It’s rolling out larger kegs of its imports, ideally making it easier for accounts and maybe even making them “more attractively priced” in the long-term. Things are “coming together” at the “right time for high-end import draft,” Bobby observed, as he sees “retailers increasingly get interested in some of the classic brands from around the world.” Last summer, co split its craft and import sales orgs and has “already started to see the benefits of that,” he commented. Added Big Local University Sponsorships; Looking to Leverage World Cup Looking out towards plans for 2026, Duvel USA is looking forward to its first full yr sponsoring a couple more big local university sports programs, as co shared last fall during its virtual natl sales summit. Both Boulevard and Quirk are now linked up with Univ of Kansas, while Quirk is official hard seltzer at Univ of Missouri (Mizzou), “some of the most iconic universities around Kansas City,” Ali commented. Co already had deals with Missouri State and Univ of Central Missouri. The deals add volume from in-stadium sales, but “the compounding effects of those partnerships go way beyond that,” Bobby noted. Tailgates give co a great sampling oppy, especially reaching new legal-age drinkers, Ali said. Meanwhile, the “world’s biggest soccer tournament” is “big on our mind,” she added. With matches hosted in KC, which will also serve as basecamp for 4 country’s teams, co’s been looking at ways to attract “international and regional visitors” to convince them to “experience local offerings.”

Bright Spots “Swirling Around Underneath” Tough Yr for Duvel USA: Space Camper Flew, Ommegang Grew

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