Beer Marketer's Insights
Recall, 2 VA distribs, Premium and Blue Ridge, filed suit against Boston Beer last Oct arguing that according to VA law Hard MTN Dew must go through them, not Pepsi's Blue Cloud. Late last mo, administrative law judge of VA Alcoholic Beverage Control broadly agreed with distribs following late May hearing. Issued summary judgment that Boston Beer "is hereby held to be in violation of" VA Beer Act. "Boston Beer's appointment of Blue Cloud as a distributor of the Hard Mtn Dew brand in Premium sales territory is hereby nullified." Same is true in Blue Ridge's territory. Boston has 30 days to appeal decision to full ABC board. It declined to comment at press time.
Beer shipments way off again in June as volume dropped another 5.6%, shedding over 1.1 mil bbls for the mo vs year ago, according to data from Beer Inst economic report including taxpaid estimate and imports tracked by US Dept of Commerce. Taxpaids down 6.4% and total imports (including beer, NA beer, cider and "not elsewhere specified or included" products) down 2.5% in Jun. Puts total beer shipments down 7% in Q2, shedding nearly 4 mil bbls in the qtr alone. Down 5%, 5.15 mil bbls thru 1st half of 2023 vs year ago.
Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons has made its first CPG foray in US with Hortons Cold Brew concentrate breaking in some Walmart stores and regional grocery chains. Tim Hortons Cold Brew concentrate is being offered in 32-oz multiserves in Medium Blend Black, Birthday Cake, Cinnamon Swirl and Mocha Cereal flavors. It aims to build on awareness brand has built via the 600 QSR locations it operates in US . . . Christyne Baxter has signed on as chief sales officer at Chamberlain Coffee. She comes off 3 years at Liquid IV and prior runs at Voss, Zhena's Gypsy Tea, Tea Forte and a host of snack brands.
KeHe Distributors has signed deal to become primary distributor to fast-expanding Foxtrot Markets chain. Next-gen c-store operator has been building from Chicago base to add Dallas, DC metro and Austin so far and is shipping nationwide. KeHe indicated that new partner expands its presence in c-store channel it has targeted for growth . . . Heywell said that Wegmans grocery chain has picked up all 5 of its functional sparkling waters for its 77 stores . . . Augmenting ties to Vitamin Shoppe nutrition chain, Phocus mental acuity bev fronted by rapper Jack Harlow is offering partner an exclusive Pineapple flavor at its bricks & mortar locations and on vitaminshoppe.com. Flavor will be offered exclusively there thru Sep alongside flagship flavor, Orange.
Tho it was mainly craft beer deal, with token NA and cider thrown in, some interesting takeouts from Tilray deal with Anheuser-Busch that put Hain Celestial founder/ex-ceo Irwin Simon further along his path of assembling diversified canna-colossus that will generate $1 bil in sales. Deal is anticipated to close by late Sep.
Fast-growing drivethru coffee chain Dutch Bros reported another big topline gain in Q2 and disclosed that its ceo of past 5 years, Joth Ricci, will cede reins to his recently recruited prexy Christine Barone on Jan 1. Among nuggets to emerge from earnings announcement and investor call yesterday afternoon was that about 90% of BROS' bevs were served cold in Q2, a new record to our ears in café segment where cold bevs have been creeping up to three-fourths of bev mix at Starbucks, Dunkin' and other players as younger drinkers eschew hot version.
Barely 7 months into his fraying distribution alliance with PepsiCo, Bang Energy founder Jack Owoc already had declared the soda giant to have been "fired" (tho it turned out he didn't have that power). Fast forward nearly 3 years, to a time Celsius Holdings has just moved beyond similar stage in its PEP partnership: so far it's been smooth sailing, with energy drink marketer reporting a more than doubling of revenues in Q2, +112%, to $326 mil, and its ceo John Fieldly declaring himself "extremely happy with our Pepsi partnership." Among key indicators of how partnership is pannin' out, PEP has helped boost brand's presence in so-called MULOC channels to near-ubiquitous 96.8% ACV from 79.8% a year earlier, when brand still moved mainly thru beer houses. In critical C&G channel, brand added 31.9 pts of ACV to end Q2 at 94.9%. Celsius brand not only is top contributor to energy category's growth, but provides 17% of unit growth in overall LRBs (liquid refreshment bevs). CELH shares rallied to all-time highs in trading today, breaking $13 bil market capitalization.
Buffalo Bill's Brewpub Back in Action
It's been a whirlwind of a week for legacy craft beer brand ownership (see above), but good news outta the Bay Area as historic Buffalo Bill's Brewery reopened on Mon. Recall, the Hayward, CA-based biz closed last June, ending its 40-yr run as one of America's oldest brewpubs. Now local biz owner Alejandro Gamarra is reviving the biz, bringing back its former brewmaster of 15 yrs plus its longtime chef in the process, SF Chronicle reports.
Stone Creates First-Ever Beer for USC Athletics; New Realm Adds Another University Sponsorship
Two SoCal staples are teaming up, with Stone Brewing set to release its Fight On! Pale Ale next wk as proud partner of USC athletics. The 5.5% ABV pale ale will be sold in 16oz 4pks, 24pks and on draft, across stores, bars and restaurants thruout Southern California. It'll also be sold onsite at the Los Angeles Colosseum and the Galen Center, home of the USC Trojans. USC was seeking the "perfect beer partner - a regional brand that would be meaningful to our fans and add to the gameday experience," explained Drew DeHart, veep/GM of USC Sports Properties. "It's our hope that this beer is enjoyed year-round," added Stone mktg SVP Erin Smith.
AB's Biggest Craft Reset to Date: Back to a Baker's Dozen, 2.1 Mil Bbls, On Par with 2017 Stakes
During the 2010s, AB quickly expanded its US craft biz from under a half-mil bbls to well over 2 mil. But in the first few yrs of the 2020s, it noticeably contracted in the segment, including plan to significantly pare back its portfolio with sale of 7 craft-aligned brands (plus HiBall energy drink) to Tilray. If closed as currently expected, deal will take AB's craft biz from a bit under 2.7 mil bbls to under 2.1 mil bbls, we estimate. Add in sales of Virtue Cider and Appalachian Mtn back to founders and AB Brewers Collective has gone from managing close to 2 dozen brands to just a baker's dozen since the start of the yr.