Beer Marketer's Insights
"Upholding high social responsibility standards" is "part of the DNA of our industry," DISCUS prexy/CEO Chris Swonger commented this wk during a round table discussion about the "Rise of Conscious Consumers," hosted by Provi and SevenFifty Daily. Those high standards impact "the way we market and advertise our products" and support for efforts to "eliminate drunk driving," for instance, Chris continued. And tho the panel largely focused on inclusion and environmental efforts, "sustainability" covers both those efforts and industry work to reduce alcohol-related harm, in his view.
Our parent Beer Marketer's Insights is pleased to announce that Jennifer Dowdy, president of Red Tree Beverages, Coca-Cola's new alc-bev subsidiary, will join our stellar lineup at this year's Beer Insights Seminar, which takes place Nov 12-13 at Convene in New York City. Don't miss this opportunity to deepen your understanding of the beer industry and its increasing overlap with non-alc bev biz, featuring top-notch speakers and ample networking opportunities.
Non-alc beer remains a small sliver of US beer biz, but after ending 2022 at around $588 mil, the US mkt put up the fastest avg growth rate over last 5 yrs, up close to 30% each yr since 2017, according to extensive deep-dive report by Bernstein. Potential upside? Well, NA beer sales here are just a fraction of the near $4.7-bil sold in Germany and over $3-bil in Spain, where NA beer holds more like 11 share, Bernstein estimates.
Coca-Cola has reupped its deal with Restaurant Brands Int'l at its Burger King, Popeyes, Firehouse Subs and Tim Hortons banners in US for another decade, the partners announced.
As BioSteel swung for the fences in sports drink segment it accumulated significant staff, and those employees sadly will be laid off as brand enters "hibernation" imposed by parent Canopy Growth now that it's decided to cease investing in effort. In SEC filing, Canopy said it has begun to lay off 181 employees who supported effort at Canopy and various BioSteel entities and expects to incur charges of C$15-20 mil, some C$3.7 mil of that being payroll-related charges. Canopy "expects associated annual cash savings in excess of C$100 million," per filing. These come on top of prior layoffs of unspecified magnitude that were rumored in recent months. No specific indication of whether Tetra Pak plant in Virginia that BioSteel acquired from Flow Beverage is continuing to operate. Beyond producing now-shelved BioSteel brand, that plant had substantial copacking biz including Flow as a client.
Inflation for non-alc bevs continued to subside in Aug, edging down 0.2% on seasonally adjusted basis after staying flat in Jul and easing by 0.1% in Jun. That left price changes for trailing 12 months at 4.8%, per Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers of Bureau of Labor Statistics. That gauge tracks NA bevs and their inputs. Among key sub-categories, CSDs surged 0.7% after quiescent Jun (-0.2%) and Jul (flat), leaving them up 6.1% for the past 12 mos. Non-frozen noncarbs were flat after declining 0.3% in Jun and 0.4% in Jul. They're up 5.3% for past year. Roasted coffee (excluding instant coffee) demonstrated greater volatility, sagging 1.1% in price after decline of 0.2% in Jun and bump upward of 1% in Jul. For 12 mos, it's up just 0.5%, tho. And it's all been down in price for fresh whole milk: -0.5%, -0.6%, -0.2% in past 3 mos, leaving segment off 5.1% for past 12 mos. Inflation also is looking quiescent on alc front, with alc bevs consumed at-home up just 0.1% in Aug, +4.2% for past year.
Seems like brands won't stop straying from their lanes. In what's likely to be a recurring theme as fall trade show calendar gets under way, pair of established brands are heading into potentially lucrative adjacencies: Ghost Energy is entering sports drink segment with line called Ghost Hydration while cap-dispensed Karma is offering an energy extension dubbed Karma Energy Water. We already reported on Waiakea Hawaiian Volcanic Water heading into RTD coffee segment and expect to see lots more of that kind of action in coming weeks.
We are pleased to announce that Jennifer Dowdy, president of Red Tree Beverages, Coca-Cola's new alcohol beverage subsidiary, will join our stellar lineup at this year's Beer Insights Seminar, which takes place Nov 12-13 at Convene in New York City. Don't miss this opportunity to deepen your understanding of the beer industry, featuring top-notch speakers and ample networking opportunities.
Hope Remains, But US "A Long Way" from Cannabis Legalization, Nadine Sez; State, Canadian Trends
No surprise that interest in cannabis investment ticked up again after brighter US policy prospects lately, Bernstein analyst Nadine Sarwat noted this morn. "Hope springs eternal," she wrote, as possibility of rescheduling and/or passage of banking bill drove latest "green shoots." But even those "monumental" and "point of no-return" changes would still be "a long way" from fed legalization, Nadine reminds.
Heineken will put up €430 mil (nearly $460 mil USD) to build its inaugural brewery in Southeast Mexico. New "state-of-the-art" facility in Yucatán is expected to be operational by 2026, with emphasis on sustainable brewing tech and improved water conservation, co announced yesterday. It'll join Heineken Mexico's existing network of 7 breweries, with plans to create 2K jobs in country where it currently employs over 18K people. Recall, Mexican gov't previously pushed back against additional beer production in (water scarce) northern part of the country, leading Constellation to close its largely completed Mexicali brewery and build one in Southeastern Veracruz instead.