 |
🔐 What You're Missing |
| | After a hot Q1, April brought some reality to off-premise bev-alc scans, according to the latest NIQ report. Trends over the L4W suggest there may be more “instability” ahead, the market research firm shared. Insiders are getting all the details and numbers in today’s Brewbound Insider Newsletter and on Brewbound.com, along with the scoop on several other headlines, including: Sazerac’s rejected bid for Brown-Forman; SIPMARGS’ new investor; Diageo’s new NA RTD venture; Mother’s Day expectations for the on-premise; And Merican Light’s strategy to capitalize on the light lager’s moment.
Insiders also have access to the Brewbound Newsletter Archive, including previous newsletter-exclusive Insider content. Become a Brewbound Insider today! Or, be in the know on all food and beverage news from Brewbound, BevNET and NOSH with Insider All Access. |
|
|
| | Sponsored message from Briess Malt and Ingredients Co. | Destihl Brewery Founder & CEO Matt Potts said “We’ve been able to brew award-winning beers with Briess Malt year after year”. When a brewery wins two golds and a bronze in the same year, you know the malt behind it matters. Click to hear the rest of the Destihl story.
Learn more
|
|
📰 Today's Top Story |
| | | While 2026 started with sunny scans for bev-alc, April brought the showers, according to the latest weekly report from market research firm NIQ. Total bev-alc dollar sales in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels declined 5.4% YoY while volume was down 5.8% in the L4W ending May 2. “All in all, [the] latest performance flags the instability of the industry and the significant reliance on prepared cocktails to offer positive contribution to ease alcohol underperformance,” NIQ wrote. Dive deeper |
|
|
📝 Brewbound Headlines |
| | | Sazerac will acquire an equity interest in SIPMARGS, the RTD sparkling margarita brand backed by social media personality Alix Earle and Palm Tree Crew, the company announced today. It will also enter into an exclusive distribution relationship with the brand. Read more |
|
|
| | | Brown-Forman has rejected a $15 billion takeover offer from rival Sazerac. The $32-per-share cash bid has now been turned down weeks after talks between Brown-Forman and another global spirits giant, Pernod Ricard, fell apart. Read more |
|
|
🆕 New On Shelves |
| | | Diageo is extending its NA spirit Ritual Zero Proof into the RTD category with 3 canned cocktails. Margarita, G&T, and Spritz mark the company’s first canned additions to the Ritual brand, using Agave Spirit Alternative, Gin Alternative and Aperitif Alternative as base spirits for lightly carbonated cocktails. Learn more |
|
|
📊 Data Dive |
| | | On-premise venues should have seen a notable lift in sales over the weekend, if historical Mother’s Day trends played out. Last year’s Mother’s Day (Sunday, May 11) was the “top-performing” Sunday of 2025, and the “3rd best day of the year” for bars and restaurants, behind Christmas and Thanksgiving, according to a report from market research firm NIQ. Dive deeper |
|
|
🚛 On the Move |
| | | Another former A-B exec is making a play with a nascent light lager. Israel Dominguez, who worked in numerous sales and marketing roles at A-B over nearly a decade, is leading operations of Merican Light Beer, which launched in CA in 2024 and is rolling out now in NC. A statewide launch in TN will follow June 1, via Empire Distributing in both states. Read more |
|
|
👀 ICYMI |
| | | Maine Beer Co. is dining out on lunch. Not the meal, but its flagship IPA (7% ABV), which isn’t named for an eating occasion at all, but rather an injured whale spotted off the Maine coast in 1982. Today, Lunch accounts for “90-plus percent” of Freeport-based Maine Beer Co.’s volume, chief operating officer Colleen Croteau told Brewbound. To keep Lunch flowing to its 31-state footprint, Maine Beer Co. is “squeezing out every efficiency possible,” but the company is about to undertake a significant expansion project to boost annual capacity to 130,000 barrels. Keep reading |
|
|
💼 Now Hiring |
|
|
|
|
|
👋 That's all for today's Brewbound Newsletter |
|
