Every St Paddy's day parade got shut down, most bars and restaurants are closed in what is the biggest day of the year for Guinness brand. "There will be a big impact," Diageo Beer Co prexy Nuno acknowledged to INSIGHTS yesterday. "But our priority right now is to do what we can to help people stay safe, and … we will come back strong and help support our partners in the industry to do the same." In that spirit, DBCo donated $500K through their Guinness Give Back fund and produced an ad for what will of necessity be a very different St Patrick's day. That ad made in just 3 days last week, cmo Jay Sethi said. While the ad is "tailored to the moment," it's also "true to the brand roots" and aims to "stand the test of time," according to Jay. Mentions the Guinness legacy of 260 years, the 9,000-yr lease it signed in Dublin, and the privilege it's had being part of St Patrick's Day celebrations for many genera

While this St Patrick's Day undoubtedly will look and feel very different amid COVID-19 precautions, especially on-prem, holiday has historically provided a solid boost in off-prem activity too, Nielsen report shows. Notably, stouts got over 1 full share-pt boost and posted strong double-digit growth off-premise during St Patrick's Day last yr. Stout $$ sales grew nearly 17% to $23.8 mil in 2019 for 2-wk period thru Mar 23 2019 vs comparable time period in 2018. Share jumped to 1.9 of total beer $$ for period vs just 0.8 share during non-holiday wks. Irish Whiskey's jump in share is even more pronounced - sales grew 6.5% for 2 wks thru Mar 23 2019 and represented 13 share of total whiskey $$ vs just 8 share during rest of the yr. Other beer and liquor styles are gaining traction during the holiday as well, including non-alc bevs, sour beer and tequila, Nielsen notes. Yet stouts growth outpaced low- and no-alc beer (+13.5%), sours (+13%) and IPAs (+12%) during the holiday in 2019. On the other hand, tequila growth (+12%), outpaced Irish whiskey. Will be difficult to parse any St Patrick's Day impact from stock-up syndrome and pantry load in recent weeks. Time will tell.

Recall, Mexican President Lopez Obrador called for a "public consultation" in border city Mexicali over whether to allow Constellation to complete its brewery there. That consultation/ballot measure on tap for Mar 21. Recall too, local activists claim the brewery would use too much fresh water and that the project is a "violation of human rights," citing a document from Mexico's National Human Rights Commission they claim supports the position, report WXXI News in Rochester, NY. While President Obrador voiced support for the activists in the past, Constellation objected to consultation and repeatedly defended the project, insisting it poses "no risk" to the local water supply.

A sad but probably inevitable development. An AB brewery employee in Cartersville is the first person in the US beer industry, at least publicly announced, to have tested positive for the coronavirus. Hopefully that person is ok and did not pass it on to others. "One employee at our Cartersville location tested positive for COVID-19, and in accordance with guidance with local health authorities, we took immediate steps to isolate this individual and ensure this individual receives medical attention and support needed," said Kaitlin Craig, director of corporate communications at AB, according to Atlanta's WGCL-TV.

All outlet Nielsen scans for 4 wks thru Mar 7 a half-pt higher than YTD in volume, a full pt higher in $$ sales. Volume trend picked up to +2.3%, $$ to +5.8% for 4 wks. Convenience store trends didn't move much, but grocery biz really picked up, another sign of pantry loading. Indeed, volume up 4.8% in grocery for 4 wks, vs +3% yr-to-date. And $$ jumped nearly 8% in most recent period, 2 pts higher than yr-to-date trend.

INSIGHTS heard from a number of distribs in last 24 hours who report extremely strong short-term results. "We're selling beer like it's the 4th of July," said one large AB distrib. Indeed, yesterday was literally biggest day since 4th of July, said another midsized MC distrib. It was best day ever, according to mid-sized AB distrib in midwest. And finally, a large MC distrib up double digits yr-to-date! This is unlikely to last, especially with the widespread shutdown of on-premise accounts across-the-country, now announced in at least 23 states, plus large cities in at least a handful more. But in this crazy environment, distribs can't help but notice that their sales are booming, while servicing a fraction of the accounts. They also acknowledge that a number of their retailers will face extremely hard times. But some suggest that US beer biz won't ultimately suffer the same kind of hits as China biz, as long as off-premise stays open. Much of on-premise biz that is lost will shift to off-premise, they surmise. In China, on premise is about half the biz; in US more like 18 share of the volume. But what if US slips into recession, as many now expect?

Here are some hopefully helpful hints for wholesalers on dealing with COVID-19. They come from Chesapeake Bev prexy Evan Athanas, who has the benefit of being right next to leading medical institution Johns Hopkins. He received this advice from people he knows there. His co acted upon this at the beginning of last week. At Chesapeake, drivers only come in 1 at a time, the person who does settlement is quarantined off, wears mask and gloves. The drivers drop off a bag outside the door. Any questions are handled via phone. No more sales meetings on site. They are using ZOOM to have video conferences. Almost no one is in the office for now. Hopefully, situation normalizes in coming weeks (months?), but in this hunkering down period, Evan offers a roadmap of some steps that can be taken. Stay safe.

Here are key reasons why Credit Suisse analyst Kaumil Gajrawala upgraded Boston's stock on Friday to "outperform": no debt (in great contrast with other publicly traded beer co competitors), and Truly able to "withstand" part I of Seltzer Wars. Truly consumption skews "heavily" toward at-home, which "could benefit from pantry loading," sez Kaumil. And there are "no signs of multinational entrants permanently denting" either White Claw or Truly, even as Bud Light Seltzer reached 60% ACV in 4 wks. Recall, Truly brand family sales kept up 197% volume growth YTD thru Feb 29 in Nielsen All Outlet data. It has 3 of top-10 growth brands (all variety pks), including new Truly Lemonade Variety pk, which is adding 30 percentage points to Truly growth, sez Kaumil. Indeed, innovation will be principal way both Truly and White Claw "strike back" against Bud Light Seltzer attack, Kaumil added. Tho Truly "relies on a much faster innovation cycle" with "~4 new products or flavors annually."