Vol 7, No 15 Apr 13, 2026

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Data Dispute with Competing Distribs Nears Resolution as SGWS Seeks New Limits on FTC's Case EXPRESS - Apr 6 As Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits defends against the FTC's sweeping discriminatory pricing allegations, it could be nearing an agreement over how much sales and purchase info it can get from 5 competing distribs. Those cos and SGWS jointly told a fed ct in California that they "significantly narrowed the issues in dispute," outlining what each distrib is prepared to turn over to their top competitor even as they continue to negotiate the precise scope. Meanwhile, SGWS and FTC are caught up in their own, separate disagreement over how much info the FTC must turn over and when, leading the distrib to ask the ct for sizable sanctions on the agency, including paring back the case to just 5 states, not 30+. In so doing, the distrib invoked both the objections of current FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, leveled when the FTC first brought the case in Dec 2024, and the oft-repeated contention that a success on the part of the FTC "would only raise prices on hardworking Americans."


Craft $$ Dipped Below Flat YTD; Trends Still Much Better Than '25; Share, Not So Much CRAFT - Apr 6 After starting the first 2 months of 2026 in positive territory, craft beer $$ are now down slightly in yr-to-date Circana multi-outlet + convenience scans thru Mar 22. Both craft and the total industry softened slightly in latest 4-wk stretch. Total beer $$ now up 1.2% yr-to-date with volume down 0.5%; craft dollars fell just below flat (-0.3%) with volume off 2.1%. Still, that's much better than segment $$ down 4.3% and volume -5.8% in full-year 2025 scans. And recall, these trends don't include non-alc, tracked separately in Circana and up 17% YTD. Yet as Q1 trends markedly improved compared to full-yr 2025, craft's YTD share loss is actually slightly steeper than it was throughout last yr. But on bright side, several top craft suppliers started the year off strong, including Kirin-Lion $$ up 5.4% YTD, Sierra Nevada +2.4% and Athletic (counted separately from craft) +19.3%.


NEW PRODUCTS: Bucked Up Kicks Off Drive Hydration Line Offering Light Lift, Solid Electrolyte Bill, Onosweet as Alt-Sweetener; Joins Refreshers as Key 2026 Innovation BEV INSIGHTS - Apr 6 Supplement player Bucked Up, which has mainly been riding its energy line in RTD space, is launching 16-oz canned hydration entry called Drive Hydration that incorporates 50 mg caffeine, 5 key electrolytes and focus-enhancing nootropics. That was one focus of announcement Apr 6 that also heralded advent of Bucked Up Refreshers, 12-oz sleek line that we'd covered a few weeks back that offers more gender-neutral path into caffeinated benefit. Drive Hydration joins wave of other brands trying to establish non-resealable cans as legit vehicle for hydration entries, sometimes melding caffeine with electrolytes, as we've seen from entries like Throne Sport Coffee fronted by Patrick Mahomes. The hydration effort had been teased at NACS c-store show last fall as an entry that would get imprimatur of endorser Bryson DeChambeau.


Constellation FY Shipments -3.8%, STRs -2.1%; Net Sales and Oper Income in Line with Guidance EXPRESS - Apr 8 Despite a much better start to 2026, Constellation's full fiscal year thru Feb ended in line with its unusually downbeat guidance, including beer division net sales -3% to $8.32 bil and oper income -7% to $3.16 bil. (Co expected beer net sales down 2-4% with oper income down 7-9%.) Constellation shipments still trailed depletions by nearly 2 points for the full fiscal yr as shipments dropped 3.8% compared to depletions down just 2.1%. Its 0.8% favorable pricing mix helped offset shipments decline slightly. While co remains "encouraged" by its momentum during the latest qtr, STZ still expects net sales to land in the -1% to +1% range for its beer biz and organically across its total enterprise in fiscal 2027. And Constellation pulled its previously issued fiscal 2028 guidance (issued back in Apr 2025), reflecting a still "dynamic" operating environment given the "evolving socioeconomic backdrop and limited-near visibility."


"Prioritization, Prioritization, Prioritization" for New Mahou USA CMO, Aiming to Get All Day Back on Track Amid New Bev Moves CRAFT - Apr 8 Mahou USA is one of the largest players in craft, thanks largely to Founders All Day IPA, which remains the industry's session IPA standard-bearer as it enters yr 15. Still, co's shipments declined about 7% from 470K bbls in 2024 to 440K bbls in 2025, CBN estimates. In Nov it hired Chuck Buckingham as its new CMO to help revamp co's marketing efforts, which in 2026 includes anniversary campaigns for All Day and the 30-yr-old flagship IPA for CO-based Avery. And last mo, co introduced a 3%-ABV Low Profile IPA to help solidify Founders' strength in mid-strength, even as it prepares to enter the high-ABV space later this yr with Centennial Imperial IPA. Chuck recently spoke with CBN to discuss all this, its forays into NAs and RTDs, the industry at large, and more. Chuck's been on the job for 6 mos, but it "feels a lot longer," he said, as he focuses on "prioritization, prioritization, prioritization. You can do 20 things mediocre or you can do 2 or 3 really well."


High Volatility, Low Visibility Baked into STZ's Modest Guidance; "Momentum" in March; Stock Up 8% EXPRESS - Apr 9 Constellation's beer biz grew depletions for the first time all fiscal yr in its FQ4 from Dec-Feb, and March was "better than planned with continued increasing momentum," outgoing ceo Bill Newlands detailed during his final STZ investor call this morn following yesterday's late afternoon earnings. But "volatility has been high and visibility has been low," he summarized, asked from the git-go to unpack co's seemingly conservative guidance.


Sazerac Stepped Up to Plate for Possible Brown-Forman Buy Too, WSJ Writes EXPRESS - Apr 9 Pernod-Ricard ain't the only major spirits co exploring a tie-up with Brown-Forman. Two weeks after "people familiar with the matter" told Reuters of that possible deal, some unnamed acquisition whisperers said Sazerac took a look-see and "recently approached [B-F] about a potential deal," reported Wall Street Jnl last Thur. Recall, B-F sales dipped a bit below $4 bil in its fiscal yr thru last Apr, with sales down 2% and flat oper income thru Jan. It sports a mkt cap of about $12 bil. Top US spirits supplier Sazerac remains privately owned and now counts over 550 brands in its arsenal, including recent pick-up of Dirty Shirley RTD brand last mo.


Simply Good Foods Suffers Q2 Wipeout Riding Protein Wave as New CEO Scalzo Promises Urgent Fixes; Less Price Promotion, More Disciplined Innovation Among New Focuses BEV INSIGHTS - Apr 9 Simply Good Foods suffered a Q2 wipeout riding the protein wave, with topline dropping 9.4% as both legacy Atkins brand and plant-based OWYN brand were soft, prompting it to cut current-year forecast. Prexy/CEO Joe Scalzo, who abruptly replaced Geoff Tanner as leader in Jan, deemed that performance unacceptable and offered a 3-part plan to get the co growing again. Its third key brand, Quest, managed to eke out some growth, but not nearly enough to offset the erosion elsewhere in SMPL. A non-cash impairment charge of $249 mil on Atkins and OWYN combined threw bottom line deeply into the red. 8-K filing doesn't seem to break out relative contributions of the 2 brands to that total charge. OWYN was acquired in 2024 for $280 mil, recall. The numbers were sobering, given continued growth of protein category as a whole.


NHTSA: 4% Dip in Alcohol-Impaired Traffic Deaths Precedes Broader Declines in 2025 ALCOHOL ISSUES - Apr 9 Motor vehicle fatalities fell a sizable 7% in 2025, an acceleration of steady downward progress following sharp pandemic increases, preliminary findings from NHTSA suggest. At the same time, the agency added more color to 2024 results, including a 4% reduction in alcohol-impaired driving fatalities, in line with the overall decline. So a stable 30% of total motor vehicle crash deaths in 2024 were caused in part by a driver impaired by alcohol, the federal agency reported Apr 9. That's in line with figures from a decade ago, though still well above lows seen before the pandemic. Encouragingly, preliminary 2025 figures suggest the overall rate of traffic deaths per miles traveled returned to historic lows.


Beer Prices Up 1.9% in Mar; Inflation Jumps Back to +3.3% EXPRESS - Apr 10 Consumer price index for beer rose 1.9% in Mar vs yr ago, per Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That's up from increases of 1.5% in Feb, 1.7% in Jan and is the highest monthly increase for beer in 15 mos. Higher prices were not unexpected as broader inflation jumped 3.3% in Mar vs yr ago. Increase was in line with Dow Jones consensus. That's the first month inflation rose over 3% since Sep last yr given "prices spiked in March as the Iran war sent energy costs soaring," noted CNBC. Spirits prices were up 0.8% in Mar vs yr ago, its smallest increase since last Jul. Wine CPI down 1.3% in Mar vs yr ago. Wine prices have been down 11 mos running.


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