Only 1 of top 10 soft drink brands in US gained share in 2001, according to soft drink newsletter Beverage Digest. Diet Coke (#3 brand) up 0.1 share to 8.8. Number 1 Coke Classic lost 0.5 share to 19.9 and Pepsi down 0.4 to 13.3. Total corporate mkt share: Coca Cola at 43.7, down 0.4; Pepsi at 31.6, up 0.2 and Dr. Pepper/Seven Up at 15.6, up 0.9. So top 3 at 90 share. Total soft drink biz as sluggish as beer in 2001: up 0.6%. But that was improvement from 0.2% gain in 2000.

Importers were top gainers in Massachusetts in 2001.  Guinness passed Boston Beer for #6 spot in Mass with 38,000-bbl, 33% jump.  Gambrinus (#5) up 38,000 bbls, 25% while Heineken (#4) up 17,000 bbls, 6%.  Those 3 at 15 share in Mass.  AB up 1% but dipped below 50 share.  Miller lost 0.6 share with 3% drop but Coors up mid-single digits for 5^th straight yr.  Top Mass micros, Boston Beer and Mass Bay Brewers, flat.  Mike’s Hard Lemonade slipped 9000 bbls, 17% in Mass in 2001. 

Just after PM’s Bill Webb characterized talk of Miller sale as “tired rumors” at Miller’s sales conference, such talk heated up again in Reuters article and elsewhere.  “SAB has made preliminary contacts with Miller” about a merger, “but no formal takeover talks have started,” Reuters wrote.  SAB’s stock went up on talk, but no comment from PM or SAB.  Meanwhile, PM has appointed Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein “to advise on its options regarding Miller” wrote just-drinks.com. 

Domestic taxpaid shipments up about 50,000 bbls, 0.4% in Feb, estimates Matt Hein at Beer Inst. But remember that followed 500,000-bbl, 3.7% gain in Jan. So domestic brewers up 2% for 2 mos. And including Dec gain, domestic taxpaids up 1.1 mil bbls, 2.9% last 3 mos, tho still flat for 12 mos.

Miller brands changed hands for 3d time in last 4 yrs in problem terri-tory for Miller and Coors. Recall back in 98 Miller forced out Showerman Dist; Burke Dist bought it, but lost Corona, Sierra Nevada and more to local Bud distribs. Then Western Bevs (Coors in San Jose) bought out Burke in San Jose in 2000, but still had tuff time as Miller/Coors distrib. Now 3.2-mil-case distrib sold again. Neighboring Coors distrib Bob Franceschini bought it and sold his Coors West distrib to Miller?s Maita Dist.

Of AB shares that is, by top execs.  For chairman August Busch III and prexy Pat Stokes, it’s only a small % of their shares, but check out these transactions (called “proposed sales”) since Feb 1.  August filed to sell  $11 mil worth of shares (including $3 mil previously reported in Express), Pat $4.6 mil.  Biggest transaction since Feb 1: exec veep John Jacob plans to sell $14.1 mil worth.  Group veep August Busch IV filed to sell another $2.4 mil, on top of $3.2 mil previously reported.  That’s $35 mil between those 4 execs in last one-and-a-half mos.  Don’t know price any of these execs paid for shares. 

And that’s before rollout of Bacardi Silver,  SKYY Blue, other Miller brands and Captain Morgan.  IRI data shows flavored alc bevs grabbed 2.3 share of volume YTD thru Feb 24, up 0.7 share.  Nearly 2/3 of malternative share was Smirnoff Ice (+300%) and Mike’s Hard (+45%).  Bacardi Silver, available just a week, came in #7.  Gettin’ whacked this period: Zima, Doc Otis, Tequiza, Hooper’s and Rick’s.  Micro biz up 5% but share flat at 2.8, just 0.5 ahead of FABs. Top-4 brands (Sam, Sierra, Shiner, Redhook) up 5-9% each.  Fat Tire still afire, nearly doubled.    

 

“Wholesalers at a Stalemate”  is title of intriguing article  forecasting lotsa upcoming Diageo spirits distrib consolidation in Market Watch mag. “We joke about the WSWA convention,” said one distrib, “that it will be one supplier and one wholesaler, they’ll meet, shake {hands} and go home.”  

United States Beverage inked deal with Pernod Ricard to sell and market Seagram’s Cooler’s and Rick’s Spiked Lemonade starting Apr 1.  Followed deal with Grolsch.  USB also sells Hooper’s Hooch and micro Goose Island.  It will now sell coolers, malternatives, imports and micros totaling 800-900,000 bbls. “We’re broad enough to compete,” USB prexy Joe Fisch told INSIGHTS.  Joe's got interesting niche, but faces tuff fight against deep-pocketed competitors, especially in malternatives.

Except those from Mexico. Total import shipments down 9,000 bbls, 0.6% in Jan, but Mexican shipments kept right on rockin': up 164,000 bbls, 30%. Got 47 share of imports for mo. All other imports down 173,000 bbls, 18% in Jan; Dutch shipments down 16%, Canadian shipments down 29%, UK down 23%, German down 12%. Not pretty. Implies some loading by several importers at end of 2001.