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Athletic Brewing still growing volume 25%+ in 2026, including over last few weeks in Circana multi-outlet + convenience (much faster than in NIQ data with different account base), even as NA beer category growth slowed somewhat to 12.5% for 4 weeks and total beer softened. So Athletic back to gaining share of NA beer in MULC, even with the strength of Michelob Ultra Zero and many more brand entrants. NA Beer 3 Share in Foodstores, 0.3 Share in C-Stores; Athletic On-Premise Recent robust sales happening while Athletic and NA beers more broadly are barely cracking beer's biggest channel, c-stores. C-stores remain NA beer's "biggest white space," Bill told a Wall St Jnl conference in early Jun. With over 50% of off-premise beer sold in c-stores, Athletic is "really not in that channel yet," so it's an "exciting frontier." NA beers are up to 3 share of foodstore volume, but only at 0.3 in c-stores. Meanwhile, Athletic is making inroads on-premise where Athletic has a 38 share of segment, Bill said. "Great non-alcoholic beer is a way to bring consumers back to the bar," added Bill, presenting again at BevNet Live last week, at a time when the "independent bar is struggling."Asked about Celebrity NA brands "and what it's like to be chased by George Clooney" at BevNet, Bill said: "Overall I think it's great," reminding that JJ Watt and Lance Armstrong were early investors in Athletic. They "bring attention" and "help destigmatize." But with "upwards of 10 celebrity brands" already introduced, "none cracked the top 20," reminded Bill. (Editor's note: Beck's NA brand was #20 on latest list we saw at 0.8 share of segment.)"Hundreds of Entrants Rush In" to Hot Segment; Not Many "Survive"; Hop Waters "Delicious" But Made NA Set "Less Productive" In a hot emerging segment like NA beers, "hundreds of entrants rush in," Bill reminded and it's "very rare that more than 10 brands survive" and can keep their shelf space. Already now a few key brands (Athletic, Michelob Ultra Zero, Heineken 0.0 and Corona NA) are 70% of the volume and 70% of the growth (more than all of growth in NIQ so far in 2026). As the segment matures, assortment "is a huge thing too." He said sometimes "full categories come in and fail but take up a lot of space." Bill used example of hop waters, which are "delicious" but "came and went," "topped out" at $25 mil nationally, and perhaps "should have been in water aisle." Hop waters took up "a lot of space in the NA set" and "made the whole set less productive."How Much Bigger Can NA Beer Get? "20 Surely Isn't the Ceiling" As always, in these appearances, Bill evangelized about the prospects for a much bigger NA segment, saying still "super early" in NA journey. But at WSJ conference, he made his boldest assertion yet. While acknowledging that he's a "delusionally optimistic person," he said "20% surely isn't the ceiling in this category" and he believes it can go "way further." Noting that distribution is "still low," that Athletic in under 40% of outlets, and that "awareness is very low," Bill said "we think non-alcoholic beer is going from 2% of beer to 10% to 20%, probably to 50%." WSJ grabbed the 50% comment and headlined that, tho Bill only talking about a possibility that he believes exists way down the line. In the meantime, NA beer hasn't even cracked 2 yet and is already slowing and getting way more competitive, tho Athletic is still doing just fine.

Athletic Stays Strong; C-Stores "Biggest White Space"; Bill on Celebrity Brands

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