Welcome to Brewbound’s Inside Look at the Beer Business for the week that was … Saturday, August 10, 2024.

Ya know, some days … being on TV is harder than it looks, folks (#funfact – I’ve done a few TV appearances of my own, and no, Zoe, none were via footage on the local news).

The team at KREM-TV in Spokane was reporting on a beer-naming contest that EASTERN WASHINGTON U was holding with the NO-LI Brewery to give a new name to the Eagle Ale (working title) that they were making together, and anchorman Jeremy certainly enlisted the spirit of Ron Burgundy to suggest … Eagle Ale.

We’re still trying to figure out where he saw the idea (and yes, co-anchor Mark totally called him out on it).

GET A ROOM!: The discounted room block for BREWBOUND Live at the Marina del Rey Marriott Hotel in December is now open! If you get the room next to Jess, don’t be surprised to wake up with Jersey Rulez💪 spray painted on your hotel door one morning (don’t worry, she’s got a great eye for design – it’ll look sharp).

PITCH AWAY!: Applications to compete in this year’s Pitch Slam competition are also now open through September 30 here.

The event is returning to Marina del Rey, CA, on Dec. 11 & 12 for 2 days of insightful conversations and analysis, plus top-notch industry networking opportunities. You can register now here!

Confirmed speakers include:

• Mary Mills, consultant for 3 Tier Beverages;
• Arthur Moye, owner and CEO of FULL CIRCLE Brewing;
• Kaleigh Theriault, director of thought leadership, beverage alcohol vertical at NIQ;
• Brian “BK” Krueger, VP of business development and portfolio strategies at Bump Williams Consulting;
• Natalie Cilurzo, RUSSIAN RIVER co-owner;
• Peter Skrbek, CEO Deschutes Brewery;
• Lester Jones, NBWA chief economist and VP of analytics; 
• Jennifer Hauke, DRAFTLINE TECHNOLOGIES founder and president; 
• Rebecca Maisel, GULF DISTRIBUTING SVP of legal and government affairs 

PLUS: Beer and other bev-alcohol brands can participate in retailer one-to-ones. Leaders from WHOLE FOODS, ExtraMile CONVENIENCE and other businesses will be available for private, pre-scheduled meetings. Brands will be selected at each retailer’s discretion. REGISTER HERE.

Thankfully, my Fridge of Beer still seems to be doing OK . . . and by “my,” I mean Justin’s. 

Sadly however, this chain of craft beer-centric offerings has filed for Chapter 11 protection, citing $0 to $50K of assets, and between $10M and $50M of liabilities, including $25.6M to one bank. Yeah, that’ll do it.

HOP VALLEY BREWING

Maintenance Manager – Eugene, OR

KONA BREWING

Maintenance Technician – Kailua, HI

BREW THEORY

ANDREWS DISTRIBUTING added & promoted some folks:

• Jaxie Alt is the new CMO – her last gig was as CCO at wine brand SCOUT & CELLAR
• Daniel Luciano is the new EVP of sales – he comes over from a 30-year stint at ADVANCE AUTO PARTS
• David Holt was promoted to EVP of strategic partnerships.

MC’s numbers as we lap a year since the BUD LIGHT collapse … weren’t that great either. Here are your Q2 numbers in the U.S.:

• Shipments (sales to wholesalers): -5.6%
• Depletions (sales to retailers): -7.8%

Note that the shipments number was impacted by the still unwinding PABST contract brewing agreement. 

In the Americas:

• Net sales: -1.7% (globally it was -0.4%)

BUT: While the big 3 (MILLER LITE, COORS LIGHT, COORS BANQUET) lost 0.5 share points in Q2, they’ve kept 80% of the gains they made since the BUD LIGHT collapse (maintaining a +2 point share since Q2 22).

Overall, the company still cleared a pretty nice Q2 profit:

• Global revenue: $5.85B (+4.2%)
• Global net profit: $635M (+53%)

AND: Unlike A-B, the Americas/U.S.-CAN market is extremely important to the global MC picture, making up almost 80% of total sales.

For A-B, North America is now its smallest revenue market globally.

So, whose idea was this “Let’s buy a beer consortium!” thing again? -32% in net sales for alcohol brands in Q2, and a new $8.1M write-down due to brewery closures pretty much says it all. 

The BREWBOUND duo (Zoe failed to call into the pod to give us her best new Caribbean accent) chart out just what happened at the WORLD OF BEER, leading up to the big bankruptcy news this week.

PLUS: A dive into the A-B Q2 numbers, and despite saying the phrase “Ball call” several times in the podcast – zero jokes about that. I think they may need to have me back on the pod before the month’s out.

• ATHLETIC is now the “official non-alcoholic beer partner” of the ARSENAL F.C. in the U.K.’s PREMIER LEAGUE for this upcoming season, one of the league’s “Big 6” clubs (i.e. this is a big deal). Cans will be sold throughout the stadium, and draft will be included on the club level.
• Over 9,500k folks went to CBC this year in Vegas, significantly down from the 12,000 who attended in 2023. 17% of attendees this year were from outside the U.S. 
• CALICRAFT acquired Fairfield, CA-based HERETIC Brewing, whose brand and taproom will continue on. A price was not disclosed.
• LAWSON’S is entering its 10th state – NC. That’s its first new state of distribution in five years.

This week’s beer is going out to the quaint, French-speaking village that is Montreal. Yes, Canadian craft beer – you’re out of excuses … as the city with some of the finest exotic dancing establishments in the world … uh, I’m told, is now going all-day and all-night.

Bars in the city center will now be able to stay open 24 hours a day, and serve as much fine Canadian lager (and let’s face it – HIGH NOON) as the people demand. Before they pass out.

Plan your vacations accordingly, as that 3a to 7a crowd should really help craft beer get back on track.

Slainté!  

-Sean McNulty