Vol 6, No 43 Oct 27, 2025

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MC to Eliminate 400 Positions, 9% of Workforce in Americas Region; $35-50 Mil in "Related Charges" EXPRESS - Oct 20 Molson Coors is making big cuts to its Americas workforce under new chief Rahul Goyal. In total, MC "plans to eliminate approximately 400 salaried positions across its Americas business by the end of December 2025," reducing approximately 9% of that biz unit's salaried workforce, co announced. This includes "hundreds of salaried positions that were already open from role prioritization efforts put in place earlier this year, and those who may be granted voluntary severance as part of this restructuring." Co expects to incur $35-50 mil in "certain related charges," mainly related to severance payments and post-employment benefits, in Q4 2025.


NACS: Tropicana Brands Group Offers Functional Extensions of Izze, Trop Refreshers Brands at Same Higher Price BEV INSIGHTS - Oct 20 Tropicana Brands Group is showing a little love to long-neglected Izze juice brand even as it continues efforts to add some pizzazz to core OJ platform, in both cases adding functionality bonus at same price as core lines. On Izze front, TBG is adding Izze Thrive and Spark sublines next May that layer on a tad of functionality at same price as core 8.4-oz line while also larger 12-oz sleek can. In its 12-oz size, Izze Spark includes modest dosage of 60 mg caffeine along with B-vitamins in Strawberry Lemonade and Raspberry Peach flavors, while Izze Thrive includes magnesium and antioxidants in Orange Mango and Black Cherry Apple flavors. The target? Gen Zers of course, who're seeking support "through the many phases of their day," per marketing collateral.


Boston Beer Promotes Philip Hodges to COO; Is He the Favorite For Next CEO? EXPRESS - Oct 21 Boston Beer has promoted chief supply chain officer Philip Hodges to coo, co announced last Tue. Philip joined co in 2023 after stints at Carlsberg and SAB and "will expand on his supply chain responsibilities to oversee day-to-day operations across all functions and focus on continuing to improve execution and implementing the company's previously announced brand building and margin enhancement initiatives," per release. "Phil brings a wealth of experience beyond his supply chain expertise, and his stepping into the COO role will enable me to focus on the big picture while he ensures we're intensely focused on operational execution," said founder Jim Koch, who took the ceo reins back in August following the departure of Michael Spillane. Recall that when Jim jumped back into the big chair, he said co would look within its own ranks for a new ceo within a coupla yrs.


Coca-Cola Delivers Strong Q3; Closer to Finalizing Refranchising Map with Africa Deal; Bullish on Fairlife as New Plant Approaches Showtime BEV INSIGHTS - Oct 21 With its "all-weather model," Coca-Cola continues to cruise thru turbulent global environment, reporting solid top and bottom lines in Q3 tho volume growth proved harder to come by. Meanwhile, with archrival PepsiCo under fire from some investors for its disinterest in considering bottler refranchising, KO put the last major piece of its red system into outside hands with deal for Coca-Cola HBC (the old Hellenic Bottling) to pick up Africa territory for $2.6 bil after demonstrating strong performance in Egypt and Nigeria. Following Jul move to sell 40% stake in India franchise to Jubilant Bhartia Group, it leaves soda giant with "clear line of sight" to concluding decade-old refranchising process with just a few pockets like Malaysia and Singapore still to do, as chmn/CEO James Quincey told investors Oct 21. As for Q3, net revenues rose 5% to $12.5 bil, +6% on organic basis.


HUSA Shipments Down Mid-Teens in Q3; Inventory Adjustments; Global Volume Down 4% EXPRESS - Oct 22 The first half was tuff enuf as Heineken USA shipments down high-singles, but in Q3 HUSA shipments drop got even steeper. "Volume down in the mid-teens," the co reported last Wed. That's "reflecting distributor stock adjustments and a tough beer market" which "disproportionately impacted core consumers of Heineken and Dos Equis," Heineken added. Meanwhile, Heineken 0.0 depletions grew for 24th consecutive qtr, but at a sharply slower rate. Depletions up low-single digits, following first half up mid-teens. Heineken USA volume down 8.7% yr-to-date thru Oct 5 in Circana multi-outlet + convenience. Each of Molson Coors and Boston Beer also expected to report big drops in Q3. And Constellation shipments dropped nearly 9%, 6 pts steeper than STRs in similar period Jun-Aug. Net-net, total beer industry shipments got whacked in Q3 too.


Small Pockets of Style Gains Amid Persistent Softness: Wheat, Light Shines in Circana; Lager in NIQ CRAFT - Oct 22 Craft's off-premise declines didn't ease any as Q3 wound down. Total segment $$ sales declined 4.6% on a 6.1% volume drop yr to date thru Oct 5 in Circana multi-outlet + convenience data. Trends over the last 4 wks netted out basically the same. Craft $$ grew slightly in convenience stores recently, getting close to flat YTD, while biz softened further in foodstores, down almost 8% for 4 wks in the key channel. And with such dour segment trends, not many styles are showing up in the black in this data. IPA continues to gain share, natch, down just 0.4% by $$ YTD in broad MULC universe, grabbing another 2.2 share to 51.7. Snagged even more share and got even closer to 2/3 of craft $$ in convenience. Next 3 largest styles — seasonal, Belgian wit, variety — all off double-digits in Circana MULC data. Golden ale, pale ale and other pale lager each off high singles, here. Those top styles are collectively around 85% of the segment in scans.


Boston Beer Shipments Down 13.7% in Q3, But STRs Down Just 3%; Depletions Down 3% for 9 Mos EXPRESS - Oct 23 Boston Beer bit the bullet with a huge, 308K-bbl, 13.7% shipments drop in Q3 as it had shipped way ahead of depletions in the first half. But its depletions down just 3% in 3d qtr. That's over a 10-point difference between shipments and depletions. Its STR trend improved from down 5% in 2d qtr. For 9 mos, Boston Beer shipments now down 221K bbls, 3.7% to 5.8 mil bbls. With big 3d qtr adjustment and "inventory rebalancing," shipments trend just slightly steeper now than depletions, which are down 3%. But yr-to-date thru Oct 18, Boston Beer depletions down about 4%, co said. And it now expects depletions for the full yr to be down "mid-single digit" as it narrowed guidance. Boston's 3d qtr STR trend again buoyed by strong sales of its Sun Cruiser brand.


Fiddlehead to Surpass 120K Bbls This Yr; Up Nearly 100K Bbls Since Covid; Room to Run w/ Disciplined, Draft-First, Affordable, Tight, Cold-Stored Approach CRAFT - Oct 23 Fiddlehead Brewing's transformational growth since Covid is one-of-a-kind in craftland and still goin' strong in 2025. Volume is on pace to grow around 13%, 14K bbls to 122K bbls vs yr ago, founder Matt Cohen shared with CBN. That's approaching 100K bbls gained since 2019. Among craft brewers, only New Belgium and Athletic added more bbls in that time. So Fiddlehead is the #2 indie craft gainer going by Brewers Assn's standards, despite selling in just 10 full states plus part of MD, providing max 15 days of inventory on hand to distribs and mandating cold storage thruout the supply chain process. And it's growing in 29 outta 30 distribs this yr. Back in 2019, Fiddlehead was entirely sold on draft, managing to methodically rise to 26K bbls, Matt reminded.


Headwinds be Damned, HUSA Sees "Green Wave of Growth" on the Horizon EXPRESS - Oct 24 Even in the midst of a challenging period for both Heineken USA and the industry at large, company brass seemed determined to sidestep the dour at their upbeat East Region Distributor Meeting last Thur in New York City, maintaining a dogged optimism that the tides will turn. That's backed by a host of new brand plans, including new campaigns on brand Heineken and Dos Equis that co believes can live on for years to come, plus first-ever flavor innovations on Heineken 0.0 and expansion of 0.0 Ultimate. "We all know how bad it is out there. We don't need to belabor the point," said ceo Maggie Timoney to kick off the meeting. Beer and total alc bevs are "under pressure," and much of that is due to "big headwinds" beyond our control, she contended, with roughly 2/3 of recent losses driven by drops in consumer confidence and immigration policy.


Amidst Challenges and Change, NBWA in Vegas Pointed to Possible Paths Forward; Accomplishments; Undercurrents BEER INSIGHTS - Oct 24 Over 2800 people in beer and bev industry gathered at NBWA convention in Vegas Oct 12-14, amidst the worst volume trends in beer in over 50 years. Yet more distributors and more people showed up than in any recent yr. And the vibe was often energized, action-oriented and seeking change. "We are in the solutions business," NBWA prexy Craig Purser said in speech, quoting OH distrib exec Greg Hipp. And potential solutions, opportunities and areas for improvement abounded, whether in technology at NBWA's innovation showcase or on floor, all the new bevs on exhibit floor (including lots of D-9), or during program and seminars. Then too, NBWA "put some big wins on the board" in 2025, as Craig said and outgoing chair Rebecca Maisel detailed. But there were also undercurrents of division and strain, whether between brewers and wholesalers or sometimes even between wholesalers.


Cancer Warnings "May" Not Work as Intended, Causal Language Less Credible: Study ALCOHOL ISSUES - Oct 24 As public health advocates around the world rally behind efforts to mandate cancer warnings on alcohol packages, a new study emphasizes that the wording of such warnings would matter and that they may not be as effective at convincing folks not to drink as advocates hope. Though based on a relatively small sample of survey respondents, results surprised authors in a number of striking ways. Most crucially, "high-certainty causal language" — such as in the explicit warning that "drinking alcohol causes cancer" — "may neither increase cancer risk perceptions nor decrease alcohol consumption intentions, but may instead incite negative reactions to these messages," authors wrote.


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The Beer Insights Seminar is coming right up Nov 9-10 at the New York Athletic Club in New York City, and the meeting agenda is now available. So sign up today to reserve your spot! We have a stellar speaker lineup at this year's event, featuring top execs, leading growth companies plus timely panels and presentations in a period of rapid change. You won't want to miss this premiere event!

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