• ☠️ Voodoo Ranger Imperial No. 1 Craft in C-Stores
• 🩺 Teamsters, A-B Reach Tentative Agreement
• 👩🏻‍⚖️ Total Wine Asks Court to Oppose FTC’s Motion
• 🦃 Wine Leads Thanksgiving Bev-Alc Buys
• 🏴‍☠️ Heavy Seas Bo*dacious Blonde
• 🍊Deschutes Variety IPAck

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New Belgium’s Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA (Voodoo Ranger) is now the No. 1 craft beer by dollar sales in the convenience channel, passing Molson Coors’ Blue Moon Belgian White (Blue Moon), according to data firm Circana’s monthly beer report.

Voodoo Ranger has increased c-store dollar sales +14.8%, to more than $81 million year-to-date (YTD), ending November 5. The IPA now has 5.84% share of total craft beer dollar sales in the channel.

In the last four weeks, Voodoo Ranger c-store dollar sales increased +13.9% year-over-year (YoY), and volume (case sales) increased +10.8%. The brand claimed 6.15% share of c-store craft dollar sales in the four-week period.

Blue Moon dollar sales have declined -2.7% YTD, to $80.8 million, with 5.82% share of craft c-store dollars. In the last four weeks, Blue Moon dollar sales declined -4.4% YoY, claiming 5.5% share of total craft c-store dollar sales. Blue Moon volume declined -6.4% YoY in the period.

Voodoo Ranger’s dollar sales boost may have been helped by its premium price tag. The average price per case of Voodoo Ranger in c-stores is now $48.39, an increase of $2.50 YTD. Blue Moon’s case price has increased +$1.84 YTD, to $42.66.

Blue Moon remains the No. 1 craft beer by volume in c-stores, with 6.34% share of total craft volume in the channel, despite a -6.9% decline in case sales YTD, to more than 1.89 million cases. Voodoo Ranger has the second largest share (5.6%), increasing case sales +8.9% YTD, to more than 1.67 million cases.

C-stores remain the strongest off-premise growth channel for craft, with total segment dollar sales up +4.5% YTD and volume +0.1%. In the last four weeks, craft dollar sales increased +2.4% YoY, while volume increased +0.1%.

In total Circana-tracked off-premise channels (multi-outlet + convenience), craft dollar sales are down -0.9% YTD, and volume is down -4.8%. In the last four weeks, craft dollar sales declined -2.6% YoY, and volume declined -4.4%. 

Insiders can read more, including ranking moves in grocery by Samuel Adams Seasonal.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters and Anheuser-Busch InBev have reached a tentative agreement to “permanently end” a tiered health care system for active employees.

The agreement would also restore health benefits for retirees that were lost in two previous contracts and place them under union control.

The Teamsters had frozen talks with A-B last week until a removal of the tiered health care structure was ended.  

Under the proposed deal, A-B will put $50.7 million over four years into a fund to secure the benefits for retiring Teamsters members. 

Teamsters general president Sean M. O’Brien said in the announcement: “As we proved at UPS, the Teamsters Union is not going to settle for two-tier systems that unfairly pit our members against one another or deprive workers of the wages and benefits they’ve earned. 

“This tentative agreement is a resounding victory for our rank-and-file members fighting tooth-and-nail for a record contract at Anheuser-Busch. But there is more ground to cover to make sure workers are protected and respected at this company. The fight is not over.”

Jeff Padellaro, director of the Teamsters Brewery, Bakery, and Soft Drink Conference, added: “With this tentative agreement, we acknowledge the contributions of members who came before us and honor the hard work of our current and future members by securing retirement benefits that cannot be eliminated or eroded in future negotiations. The company is pre-funding these benefits. 

“With this victory at the table, Anheuser-Busch Teamsters will not have to worry about their retirement benefits being there when they need them. When Teamsters fight, we win.”

New A-B employees who are members of the Teamsters will also come into the company receiving the same health benefits as longer tenured employees.

The legal battle between the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and national bev-alc retailer Total Wine & More continued this week when the chain filed a motion to oppose the agency’s petition to force it to comply with a civil investigative demand (CID).

The FTC last month claimed Total Wine’s parent company, Retail Services & Systems, Inc. (RSSI), had failed to comply with a CID asked of it for more than four months as part of an investigation into multi-state wine and spirits wholesaler Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits. 

In a motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, RSSI said it provided “the price and corresponding data for every wine and spirit transaction that RSSI’s affiliated entities conducted with Southern since 2018, consisting of over 14 million transactions for 18,000 products in 19 states.”

The FTC’s investigation of Southern came to light earlier this year when three anonymous sources told Politico the agency was looking into the wholesaler for violations of the Robinson-Patman Act, which bars suppliers from offering favorable pricing to larger retailers at the expense of smaller stores.

In its most recent complaint’s conclusion, RSSI said the FTC has been “conveniently ignoring the fact that RSSI and its affiliates are not targets.”

RSSI wrote: “No business expects to be excused from the responsibility to produce reasonably relevant documents to aid an agency’s investigation. But what they do expect – and deserve – is to be treated fairly and not like the enemy simply because they happen to be a successful business or the customer of a target.”

Insiders can read more about RSSI's objection and a prior retailer lawsuit against Southern.

One-third of consumers plan to purchase beverage alcohol to serve at their Thanksgiving celebrations, according to market research firm Numerator, which surveyed 4,500 people about their holiday plans.

Wine is the most popular choice by far, with 70% of those who will buy alcohol planning to offer bottles of red, white or rosé on their holiday tables, followed by beer (57%) and spirits (28%). 

The majority (76%) of respondents said they plan to shop at grocery stores for food and drinks for Thanksgiving, followed by mass retailers (37%) and club stores (29%).

Maryland’s Heavy Seas has brought back Bo*dacious Blonde and the craft brewery says the offering is “here to stay.” 

The 4.5% beer is only available year-round in Maryland on draft and in 6-packs of 12 oz. cans. 

Heavy Seas took a veiled shot at Guinness, which shifted production of its Baltimore Blonde lager out of Maryland to New York, with the tagline: “Actually Brewed in Maryland.”

Bend, Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery has released a new IPA variety 12-pack in bottles, “Variety IPAck,” featuring staples, Fresh Squeezed IPA and Fresh Haze IPA, and a new limited-release offering, Sunny Citra IPA (5% ABV). 

The pack is available year-round.

We’re less than 30 days away from the 2023 Brewbound Live business conference in Marina del Rey, California. Industry leaders will gather for two days of business conversations, networking and relationship building on December 6 + 7.

To foster networking time in a casual setting, we’re hosting three Brewbound Live parties filled with beer, booch and business conversations.

Here’s what you can expect:

Kick Off Party Presented by JuneShine

Tuesday, December 5, 6-8 PM

Enjoy a variety of hard kombuchas, craft beers, non-alcoholic beverages, and small bites at JuneShine’s Santa Monica taproom.

Official Party Presented by Firestone Walker, YETI, Crafted ERP, and Beer Institute

Wednesday, December 6, 6-8 PM

Firestone Walker will be pouring their signature beers at their Venice taproom, the Propagator. Digest the day’s learnings with fellow attendees, enjoy appetizers and take home a coveted Brewbound Live YETI mug.

Wrap Up Party

Thursday, December 7, 3:30 – 4:30 PM

Enjoy a final few beers and celebrate the end of an action-packed two days at the Brewbound Live Wrap Party, hosted at the Marina del Rey Marriott.

All parties are exclusively for Brewbound Live attendees. To join the fun, you must register for Brewbound Live.

Register for Brewbound Live.