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Mark Anthony is "more focused than ever on what we're gonna do and what we&#39;re not gonna do," prexy David Barnett declared at our Beer Insights Spring Conference in Chicago yesterday, commenting on this next phase for the company under Phil Rosse's leadership as ceo and Anthony von Mandl's continued involvement as chairman. Co made decisions in the last yr to "exit" its bottled spirits biz, Liquid Refreshment Beverage (LRB) unit and hydration bev partnership with Mas+ by Messi in relatively short order while it "double[s] and quadruple[s] down" on its core RTD flavored alc bev biz, and did its first-ever US acquisition with purchase of The Finnish Long Drink. "Just those handful of things alone signal that we're not resting on our laurels and we're playing offense for the future," David emphasized. That's as share growth improved to +20 bps with volume back to growth, +1% in 2026 Circana data "so far," led by White Claw "back to growth" and Cayman Jack "still doing great." There's "work to do" on Mike's Hard, he acknowledged, and co's "looking for the next growth engine of our portfolio." But MAB's "uniquely positioned" as the #1 RTD alc bev company, #4 US brewer with an "efficient portfolio," own supply chain, and founder-led org. Indeed, even as Anthony von Mandl shifts to chairman role, he's still "heavily engaged," David assured.Long Drink "Fully Integrated" by Early 2027; "Ensuring that We Do the Right Things" to Eventually "Double It, Triple It" Long Drink deal closed on May 1 but co's being "conscientious" of making sure it's integrating the brand "the right way," to "not think we're smarter than what they're doing" to maintain that "specialty," David stressed. It sold a little less than 3.5 mil cases last year and "yes, we think we can double it, triple it, in years to come." But "we're more if not equally as focused on ensuring that we do the right things to protect the brand and build it the right way for generations to come," he said, crediting founder/chairman's Anthony's "support" and willingness to look at "a decade time horizon" rather than a quarterly time horizon. Sales and commercial biz will be integrated by fall and biz will be "fully integrated, including our production and manufacturing," until "early 2027." MAB has "a huge business to run" this summer and "we have to make sure we protect our core business" first and foremost, and "really get the learnings required for us to integrate this in the right way."Asked if there may be more M&A in MAB's future, David acknowledged that "there certainly could be," but "we have a lot to do right now." This being its first US deal ever, "the only thing I know for certain" is "we're going to get a lot of things wrong," he said candidly. So co's going to avoid "biting off more than we can chew," as "distractions are the kiss of death." As it stays "really focused" and learns the "right way" to integrate Long Drink, then "when we're ready to do the next one," co can "do that the right way.""Trying to Take Down Gatorade&hellip;and Powerade is Damn Hard&hellip;.And It's Really Expensive" Asked about learnings from Mas+ by Messi after decision to discontinue the brand, David responded accordingly: "Trying to take down Gatorade&hellip;and Powerade is damn hard. That's what we learned. And it's really expensive." Co "learned the hard way in a lot of areas." But "when we see something that's not working, we will be very proactive to exit," he reinforced. "There just wasn&#39; t a clear line of sight on how we were gonna scale, make money and continue to support our core RTD business the way we wanted to."

Mark Anthony is "More Focused," and "On Offense" in Next Phase; Long Drink's Long Time Horizon

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