Major brewers still accounting for lost value after big spending on craft brewers during earlier period of fast growth. Constellation took another write down in its fiscal 4th qtr "in connection with certain continued negative trends within our craft beer business," co wrote in SEC filing. This time to tune of $66.5 mil.

Covid was "tough on us" as an urban-based brewery, Yards' CEO Trevor Prichett acknowledged in recent chat with CBN, forcing co to take a "hard look in the mirror" and figure out how to "come out of this thing stronger." But it's on the right path, Trevor believes, after finishing roughly flat in 2022 at just over 31K bbls. That's better than national craft trend and the greater Philly mkt, in which Trevor pegged craft closer to -10%. And while Yards is down nearly 25% vs pre-pandemic levels, per BA stats, co's optimistic it can grow 5-10% amid what it expects will be another flat to down yr for Philly craft. It's an "uphill climb… Fortunately we like to climb," he added.

Since the above obituary first appeared in our INSIGHTS Express on Mar 28, we received over 100 notes and comments, many wonderfully personal and detailed. That's the kind of impact Jerry made on people. All the heartfelt condolences, kind words and thoughtful reflections are very much appreciated, but we simply weren't able to answer most of them yet. Thank you so much.

Jerry Steinman lived a long, full life and passed away on March 25th at 99 years old. Jerry was an innovator and entrepreneur, who founded Beer Marketer's INSIGHTS in 1970. Back then, his 4-page, twice monthly print newsletter, later known as the "orange sheet," arrived as a truly trailblazing vehicle that kept people throughout the industry informed about the totality of the beer biz, not just their local market or company. "He was revolutionary," said consultant Mike Mazzoni. "He connected the whole industry, linking everyone together," added Mike. "He was miles ahead of everyone else." Former longtime Coors and Molson Coors sr veep Rob Klugman noted: "I cannot think of anyone who did more for the US beer industry. Any industry that has a knowledgeable and honest observer/chronicler is a fortunate industry. The US beer industry had Jerry."

The Fed Trade Commission is investigating top US wine & spirits distrib Southern Glazer's, Politico reported last wk citing 3 unnamed sources, looking broadly at alc bev pricing activity among other "competitive dynamics." In addition to parts of FTC Act, sources cited long-dormant Robinson-Patman Act as basis for the pricing investigation. Same law is said to underpin FTC's look at Coke & Pepsi, also reported by Politico in Jan. And it's basis of a proposed class action lawsuit filed by a handful of CA retailers against Southern Glazer's last yr, claiming co unfairly gave larger chain retailers better pricing on numerous popular spirit brands. Fed ct recently granted Southern's motion to let an arbitrator deal with the dispute. That sez little about the substance of their arguments, only that the parties' contract requires issues to be arbitrated out of ct.

Tension ramped up recently in 2 PacNW legal proceedings that carry heavy potential. One opens the door to an important precedent for laws governing supplier-distributor relations. The other holds far-reaching implications for state laws concerning direct-to-consumer (DTC) beer shipments. Neither minor issues. Yet a pair of friend of the court (amicus) briefs filed with the 9th Circuit, weighing in on the dispute between Olympic Eagle and Constellation, highlighted divided interests within the distrib tier amidst continued consolidation. And a pending settlement in a fed suit brought by 3 WA brewers and an in-state consumer last summer all but confirms fewer DTC restrictions in OR.

Plenty of AB distrib deal activity already this spring, involving well over 20 mil cases, but in at least 2 situations, deals that INSIGHTS first reported last fall got either matched and redirected or dropped. A 3d AB deal involves a large wine and spirits distrib buying into AB's network in a pretty big way in a hard-hit state. And a 4th highlights end of an era in CA and a new megadistrib there too. All have potentially wide-ranging implications.

Two mirrored metrics tell the tale for first qtr 2023. Total beer $$ up 3%, volume down 3% in Circana (formerly IRI) multi-outlet + convenience scans thru Mar 26. Near 6% avg price per case increase made up the difference. But questions abound after scan trends softened in Mar, when $$ gains deteriorated to 0.5% and volume fell 4.7% for 4 wks.

Beer biz remains challenged in early 2023. Going up against particularly easy comps, shipments still down 0.6% YTD thru Feb, INSIGHTS estimates based on Beer Inst and US Dept of Commerce stats. Down nearly 8% vs same period in 2021. Taxpaids finally grew 5% in Feb, improving to flattish for 2 mos, BI estimates. But that's down 10% vs same period in 2021 and down nearly 6% vs 2019 levels. Is this new normal for domestic brewer volume?