• 🫗 Cambridge Brewing Co. to Close After 35 Years
• 🚛 Sale of A-B Distro Branch Will Cut 200 Jobs
• 🏪 Canadian Circle K Owner Makes 7-Eleven a Deal
• 💰 CGA: Check Values Increase +13%
• 📊 Import Dollar Sales -1% as Mexican Brands Slow

After 35 years, Massachusetts-based brewpub Cambridge Brewing Co. (CBC) has announced it will shut its doors at the end of 2024.

The brewery wrote on social media over the weekend: “To our dear CBC friends and family, our time is coming to a close. Our last day of service will be December 20. But what a time it has been!”

Unlike common culprits behind craft brewery closures of late – punishingly high rent costs, a distracted drinker base, a slowing industry – CBC is going out on its own terms, founder and owner Phil Bannatyne told the Boston Globe. 

Bannatyne told the Globe: “I want to retire. There comes a time in everyone’s life when that becomes apparent, and I think that time for me is now.”

CBC opened in Cambridge’s Kendall Square neighborhood in 1989, before the area became home to bustling biopharma giants and tech startups. One of few craft breweries with on-premise service in the region at the time, CBC had an outsize influence on the development of New England craft beer. 

In addition to brewing the first Belgian-inspired beers in the U.S., CBC pioneered pumpkin ales with its Great Pumpkin Ale, the Northeast’s first iteration of the style, in 1990. 

In 2017, the Brewers Association (BA) recognized longtime CBC brewmaster Will Meyers with the annual Russell Schehrer Award for Innovation in Brewing during its annual Craft Brewers Conference. 

Meyers wrote on Instagram: “CBC literally changed the landscape of craft beer locally and nationally, bringing awareness to classic beer styles, obscure ones, and a few cool ones we invented ourselves.

“It's been an incredible honor to have had the opportunity to work with my friend Phil for 32 years (holy smokes!), and I am eternally grateful for the faith he put in my artistic drive and in the creative force that is the brewing team at CBC.”

CBC’s beers have been similarly decorated, with 12 medals won at the BA’s Great American Beer Festival (GABF) and two from the organization’s World Beer Cup.

Insiders can read more about CBC’s history and its upcoming closure. 

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Nearly 200 workers will be laid off in the wake of the sale of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s wholly owned distributor in Medford, Massachusetts, to Quality Beverages, which was announced last week. 

The 193 affected employees will be let go between November 1-14, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filed with the commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

Circle K owner Alimentation Couche-Tard has offered a “friendly proposal” to acquire the Japanese operator of 7-Eleven in a move that could mark major consolidation of the global convenience channel. If successful, the combined entity would become one of the largest retail businesses in the world.

Alimentation Couche-Tard, which owns more than 16,000 Couche-Tard and Circle K stores across North America and Europe, is looking to acquire Seven & i Holdings, which operates 85,000 stores in Asia and the U.S. Seven & i Holdings has established a committee of independent directors to review the offer, according to the New York Times.

Couche-Tard also approached Seven & i about a possible deal in 2020, the Times reported, citing Japanese media. 

Year-to-date through July 14, beer dollar sales at c-stores have declined -1%, to $13.642 billion, and volume (measured in case sales) has declined -3.3%, compared to the same period last year, according to market research firm Circana. 

Imports are the largest segment, with dollar sales of $3.665 billion, followed by domestic premium ($3.419 billion), domestic sub-premium ($1.759 billion), flavored malt beverages ($1.661 billion), domestic super premium ($1.293 billion), hard seltzer ($881 million), craft ($856 million), cider ($76.2 million) and non-alcoholic ($28.8 million).

Price increases are driving bar and restaurant trends, according to a recent report from CGA, NIQ’s on-premise data arm. 

Nationwide, on-premise velocity increased +9% for the week ending August 10, compared to the same week in 2023.

CGA wrote: “Trends vs. last year are driven by a double-digit increase in check value (+13%) while traffic [measured in ticket count] is slightly negative (-3%).”

Year-over-year (YoY), CGA’s key tracked states all posted flat or positive growth. Illinois recorded the steepest growth (+21%), followed by New York (+18%), Texas (+7%) and Florida (+4%). California was flat in the period.

Week-over-week (WoW) performance, compared to the week ending August 3, was mixed. Illinois led the way in growth again (+6%), followed by Texas (+2%). New York was flat, and Florida (-2%) and California (-1%) posted declines.

Total bev-alc dollar sales declined -2% year-over-year (YoY) and week-over-week (WoW) in Circana-tracked off-premise channels in the latest week (ending August 11), according to the market research firm.

As Circana’s Scott Scanlon predicted in previous reports, category performances have remained relatively consistent, with no extreme changes or improvement expected until Labor Day. 

Beer once again led YoY declines, with dollar sales down -3.4% and volume -5.2%. Total bev-alc volume declined -4.7% YoY.

Imports declined -1% YoY, with slowed performances by segment leaders in Constellation Brands’ portfolio, including:

• Modelo Especial dollar sales +1.9%, volume +1.5% (previous week dollar sales +4.7%, volume +3.9%);
• Corona dollar sales -4.7%, volume -6.3% (previous week dollar sales -3.3%, volume -4.9%);
• Pacifico dollar sales +20.7%, volume +21.7% (previous week dollar sales +25.3%, volume +24.2%).

Spirits dollar sales were about flat (+0.8% YoY), while volume increased +2.4%, remaining the only bev-alc category in the black. 

Wine dollar sales declined -1.5% YoY, while volume declined -3.7%.

It’s time to book your room for Brewbound Live! Our two-day event for beer and beverage-alcohol professionals heads to Marina del Rey, California, on December 11 + 12. Register now to stay just steps from the action and save on your stay at the Marina del Rey Marriott Hotel (4100 Admiralty Way, Marina Del Rey, CA).

The Brewbound Live room block always sells out, so we encourage you to register today to secure your place among brewers, retailers, investors, distributors, beer leaders, and industry partners. Once registered, you will receive an email with the link to the discounted room block. Plus, right now you can take advantage of early registration pricing and save $100 per registration. Plan ahead to save and take advantage of both the room block and early registration discounts.

Attendees can look forward to expert presentations from brewery leaders, retailers, beverage-alcohol suppliers, wholesalers, and data providers, business conversations during scheduled networking breaks, the Brewbound Live Pitch Slam, samples of the latest innovations in the industry and the Brewbound Live Official Party, all set against the backdrop of sunny Southern California.

Register for Brewbound Live Winter 2024.