Vol 5, No 50   Dec 9, 2024

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Diageo Teams Up with NFL, Uber & MADD for Responsible Drinking Campaign: “Take a Minute, Make a Plan”  EXPRESS – Dec 2 A rather unusual pairing of large orgs came together to create a big marketing campaign promoting responsible drinking amid holiday season and late-season NFL. Diageo North America leveraged its partnership with the NFL, as first-ever official spirits sponsor of the league, and brought in Uber Technologies and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to create “Take a Minute. Make a Plan,” encouraging consumers to plan ahead when drinking alcohol to ensure they have a safe and responsible ride home. “This is the biggest thing we’ve done” for Diageo corporate brand advertising, Diageo North America exec veep of corporate relations Stephanie Childs told INSIGHTS. Diageo views this as another step forward for co as a “thought leader” in responsibility messaging. “Right now, we lead with the corporate brand,” tho top spirits brands like Crown Royal, Captain Morgan and Smirnoff will get a bit of spotlight too.

Sazerac Strikes Again; Adds STZ’s Svedka  EXPRESS – Dec 3 Constellation Brands has “reached an agreement” with Sazerac “to divest its Svedka brand” with deal expected to close in coming mos. Sazerac is already #1 spirits player by volume in scan data with almost 16 share of segment in NIQ data yr-to-date thru Nov 23. And Svedka alone is about a 1 share of spirits volume, representing most of Constellation’s spirits biz (76% estimates Bernstein’s Nadine Sarwat in report following deal). Recall, Sazerac sells 500 brands and made 70 deals in last decade, ceo Jake Wenz told Beer Insights Seminar last mo. Now it’s adding another sizable brand to its arsenal after it already bought BuzzBallz earlier this yr. Notably, Sazerac has moved to beer distribs in many mkts in recent yrs. Will Svedka stay in spirits houses or move in some mkts too?

After Cannabis Chaos-Inspired Pause, Mahoney’s Drinkable Company Ready to Move Forward with Retail Push Behind D9 Bevs, Shots, Bev Enhancers  BEV INSIGHTS – Dec 3 He means it this time. Serial entrepreneur Mark Mahoney finally is ready to roll at retail on diverse suite of D9 bevs and shots after deferring earlier-announced launch as he sorted thru the tumult of shifting regulatory policies. Recall, the effort from The Drinkable Co under brands like Swivel Soda and Tiger Tea was supposed to go live this past spring. That launch in itself represented a course correction from earlier focus on dispensary-oriented THC offerings as hemp-based Delta-9 THC bevs began to ignite in states like Minn and Texas, offering a chance for Mahoney to aim more broadly. The Powell & Mahoney founder has been on the make again since mixer co Fevertree quietly picked up his P&M in 2022 as a route into noncarb segment. Mark’s also involved in range of other endeavors including Atomic Coffee Roasting.

LaRose Deal Still Hasn’t Closed; Constellation, Mark Anthony and Rhinegeist Look to Move to Superior; Suit vs Rhinegeist  EXPRESS – Dec 4 Deal for Columbus Dist to buy big AB distrib House of LaRose in Cleveland and Akron has turned messy, including a lawsuit. Deal originally announced back in August and it was supposed to close well before now. But some key suppliers didn’t go along with deal. Constellation, Mark Anthony Brands and Rhinegeist all seek to move to Superior Beverage. House of LaRose sued Rhinegeist late last mo in state ct saying it “unreasonably” and “unlawfully withheld consent” to sale. LaRose only had Constellation and MAB in smaller part of its territory, tho Rhinegeist is with distrib in large swath of its territory. Latest developments now mean deal likely won’t close before end of yr.  “It can’t be boding well for this business going into holiday season to be in no man’s land,” said source. Rhinegeist response not due until late Dec.

DISTRIBUTION: Hoist Hydration Accelerates Buildout with Bud Networks in Florida, Broad DC Region  BEV INSIGHTS – Dec 4 For a decade, Hoist hydration brand has soldiered on from its Cincinnati base, deepening its penetration of US military bases and picking its spots at retail. Lately, tho, both retail doors and DSD distribution options have been opening up at a startling pace as many Anheuser-Busch wholesalers look beyond the sagging Prime Hydration brand and seek to fill the void of Electrolit brand that departed for KDP last year and Ghost energy and hydration line that’s heading in same direction next spring. A few weeks ago Hoist inked in network of 16 Bud houses in Florida to support what we hear is brand’s entry into Publix chain, and now it’s added flock of Bud houses in DC, Maryland and Delaware to work Giant chain’s Landover div. The expansion comes as brand operated by Ben Schmidt and Kelly Heekin continues its arduous quest for growth capital, working with former Celsius CEO Gerry David and enlisting Maxim Group to fortify effort so it can better ride newfound momentum.

Beer Shipments Slipped 0.6% in Oct with Taxpaids +1%, Imports -6%; STRs Down 1% for 8 Wks Thru Nov  EXPRESS – Dec 5 Beer shipments improved in Oct, fueled by a rare mo of taxpaid growth, +1.2%, 130K bbls, Beer Institute shared in Oct Economic Report. Yet total Oct shipments still dipped 0.6% as imports posted a rare 6% drop, shedding 213K bbls, according to US Dept of Commerce data published by BI. Beer shipments still down nearly 1.5% YTD thru Oct with taxpaids down 3% and imports up 5.5%. Depletions still lag shipments for the yr but gap is seemingly closing as they improved in Oct. And while Nov trends seemed to pull back a bit, depletions down just 1% for 8 wks thru Nov, including solid trends during the Thanksgiving holiday, BI chief economist Andrew Heritage shared in report.

Craft Beer Gained Most Share of On-Prem STRs in Fintech; Keg Drivers; All Others Growth; Bell’s #2 in MI & More  CRAFT – Dec 5 Craft $$ trends look much healthier in Fintech STR data than other natl measures, NBWA chief economist/veep of analytics Lester Jones and Fintech veep of distrib strategy Eric Kiser showed Dec 4. Presentation dubbed “It’s still all about the dollars,” painted a rosier picture of the industry more broadly too. In fact, craft gained the most $$ share of on-prem STRs among all beer segments in Fintech data, rising 0.6 pts to 18.5 YTD thru Nov 22. Kegs appear to be driving the boost, increasing 4 pts to 50 share of total on-prem beer STRs in this dataset, taking all that share from bottles (down 4 pts to 26.6 share) as can sales remained flattish at 23. Next biggest beer segment gainers on prem were NA beer and Below Premium Light, each up 0.3 pts to 0.9 share and 2.9 share, respectively. Imports gained just 0.1 share. Then too, craft beer off-prem STR $$ share flattish in Fintech data; much better than craft beer sales to consumers, which declined 3% and dropped 0.3 share of $$ YTD thru Nov 3 in Circana MULC.

Distribution Landscape: Change in Air on Multiple Fronts in Below Avg Yr for Distrib Deals   BEER INSIGHTS – Dec 6 While INSIGHTS tracked roughly avg # of distrib deals in AB system in 2024 (around 10), for the 2d yr in a row very few deals in MC system by early Dec (4 this yr, 3 last yr). Several AB deals INSIGHTS tracked were relatively small too, i.e. under 2 mil cases. One bigger one, House of LaRose in OH, announced in Aug, is currently in limbo, held up by litigation (vs Rhinegeist) amidst supplier flight. So there’s not that much movement in all. That’s in part because of widely different perceptions of value, both between buyers and sellers generally and also in mkts that command premiums vs those that can’t. There still could be yr end deals that have not come to fruition. Despite lower level of transactions, new potential acquirors and combinations abound. That’s even tho it’s unclear when logjam will break and deal pace will again pick up.

“J-Shaped Associations” Identified by Large Lancet-Published Study Out of Mexico  ALCOHOL ISSUES – Dec 6 A first-of-its-kind prospective study of almost 140,000 adults in Mexico City again confirmed a pattern seen for decades in the relationship between self-reported alcohol consumption and mortality. “Overall, J-shaped associations with mortality were observed,” with the lightest regular drinkers showing lower risk of all-cause mortality compared to not only heavier drinkers but occasional, former and never drinkers as well. The J-shaped relationship held even after narrowing the focus to alcohol-attributable causes of death, researchers explained in a study published by The Lancet last month. Authors compared results for other groups to occasional drinkers (less than monthly consumption), not abstainers, an increasingly common method favored by public health researchers who aim to correct for perceived flaws in earlier research. Compared to occasional drinkers, regular drinkers reporting up to 5 drinks per week (70 grams) at baseline showed about a 10% lower risk of death from any cause over about a 20-year period. Risk was about 10% greater for groups consuming 5-10 drinks per week and 10-15 drinks per week, with no substantive difference between them.

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