• 🧮 Craft Slightly Outpaces Total Beer to Start 2024
• 🏈 Mich Ultra Tops Bud Light on Tap for Big Game
• 📈 Molson Coors Net Sales +9.4% in 2023
• 💰 Beer Inflation Ticks Up Slightly to Start 2024
• 🆕 Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre Launch RTD
• 💝 New Belgium/Bell’s Valentine’s Day Package

Craft beer started out 2024 ever so slightly outpacing the industry – though both metrics were in the red – according to market research firm Circana.

For the first four weeks of the year, the craft segment’s dollar sales (-1.4%) and volume (-2.6%) both declined at multi-outlet retailers and convenience stores (MULO+C) through January 28, compared to the same period last year.

In the same period, the overall beer category recorded dollar sales declines of -1.5% and lost -2.7% in volume.

Craft’s narrow lead on total beer swings larger in the convenience channel, where the segment is nearly flat in dollar sales (-0.3%), while volume declined -1.5%, compared with the overall category’s -3.3% decline in dollars and -5.2% in volume.

In grocery stores, typically a stronghold for craft, overall beer dollar sales sneaked into the black in dollar sales (+0.5%), while volume was nearly flat (-0.1%). But craft recorded losses in both dollars (-1.6%) and volume (-2.4%).

Eight of the top 30 craft brands recorded gains in both dollar sales and volume in MULO+C through January 28, according to Circana.

Brewers Association (BA)-defined independent craft brewers have begun to make inroads in c-stores. Nearly half (14) the top 30 craft brands in the channel are BA-defined independent (produces fewer than 6 million barrels annually and is not more than 25% owned by a non-craft-defined, bev-alc producer). 

They include:

• No. 4 Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing IPA
• No. 7 Gambrinus-owned Shiner Bock
• No. 10 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
• No. 11 Duvel USA-owned Firestone Walker 805
• No. 14 Monster-owned Cigar City Jai Alai IPA
• No. 17 Boston Beer-owned Samuel Adams seasonal
• No. 20 Sierra Nevada Big Little Thing Imperial IPA
• No. 22 Rhinegeist Truth IPA
• No. 23 Georgetown Bodhizafa IPA
• No. 24 Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA
• No. 27 Tilray-owned 10 Barrel Pub Lager
• No. 28 Fiddlehead IPA
• No. 30 Tilray-owned SweetWater 420 Extra Pale Ale.

Insiders can read more highlights from Circana’s first data report of 2024, including how non-alcoholic craft beer maker Athletic fared during most of Dry January, and a look at two regional craft IPAs with booming c-store sales.

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) Bud Light was dethroned by Michelob Ultra as the country’s best-selling draft beer on Super Bowl Sunday as drinkers watched the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the San Francisco 49ers in overtime, according to on-premise data firm BeerBoard. 

Draft volume of No. 2 Bud Light – also the official beer of the National Football League (NFL) – declined -31.8% year-over-year (YoY), as the company nears the anniversary of the conservative-led boycotts that have left its No. 1 brand bleeding out at retail. 

Bud Light’s draft volume declined -10% during the Super Bowl last year, when it was the country’s top-selling draft beer. 

However, Bud Light’s replacement was still in the A-B family of brands. Michelob Ultra claimed the top draft brand spot nationwide with “a modest” +0.7% increase YoY.

Overall, draft beer sales were flat nationwide, with volume +0.34% year-over-year (YoY), according to BeerBoard.

Insiders can read more about draft sales in the competing teams’ hometowns and how packaged products and spirits fared in the on-premise.

Molson Coors’ gains at the expense of competitor Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) losses continued to show in the company’s fourth quarter and full-year earnings reports.

Molson Coors’ Q4 depletions (sales to retailers) in the Americas region increased +6.7%, including an +8.5% increase in the U.S., driven by double-digit gains for Coors Light, Miller Lite and Coors Banquet, the company reported. Volume in Canada increased +0.7%, while Latin America volume declined -5%.

The company’s Q4 net sales in the Americas region increased +4.7%, while net sales per hectoliter increased +2.4%. Financial volume in the Americas increased +2.2%, which the company attributed to increased depletions in the U.S. driven by the company’s core offerings. This was partially offset by shipment timing and lower contract brewing volume due to the expiration of the company’s contract with Pabst Brewing. 

The U.S. increases were driven “by the continued shifts in consumer purchasing behavior” within the premium beer segment due to the conservative-led boycott of the Bud Light brand. 

For full-year 2023, Molson Coors’ net sales increased +9.4% to $11.7 billion, while financial volumes increased +1.8%, driven by increases in the Americas business. Global brand volumes increased +2.2%, driven by a 4.4% increase in the Americas region.

The company noted “favorable price and sales mix,” which increased +7.5%, and net sales per hectoliter growing +7.3% for the year. Those gains were driven by price increases, “including the rollover benefit in the first three quarters due to taking several price increases in the prior year, as well as favorable sales mix” due to higher volumes in the Americas.

Molson Coors CEO Gavin Hatterlsey called out that this was the second consecutive year of delivering both top- and bottom-line growth.

“But more than that, last year we achieved the highest reported top and bottom-line figures in the history of our company,” he continued in the release.

In a separate note, Molson Coors chief communications and corporate affairs officer Adam Collins wrote that the company’s underlying pre-tax income growth (+37%) increased “so much that it finished above where we thought it would be at the end of 2028. Molson Coors delivered six years of profit growth in just one year.”

Collins offered a few additional highlights, including the company’s top five global brands combined selling more than 2 million more hectoliters than in 2022, which he said is “the equivalent of adding a brand the size of Blue Moon to our portfolio.”

Brewbound Insiders can go deeper into Molson Coors’ earnings report.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for beer at home has ticked back up for the start of 2024, increasing +2.4% year-over-year (YoY) in January on a seasonally unadjusted basis, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). 

The increase was above the +1.9% YoY increase recorded at the end of 2023. 

However, the increase was significantly below the +9% YoY increase recorded in January 2023. This time last year, beer price hikes were near the peak of accelerated increases, with increases of +8.6% YoY in December 2022, +7.7% in November and +6% in October.

The latest CPI was up +0.5% month-over-month (MoM) when seasonally adjusted. The CPI for beer at home had been trending down since October 2023.

Still, beer was below the CPI for all items, which was up +3.1% on a seasonally unadjusted basis. When seasonally adjusted, the CPI increased +0.3%. 

Total beverage-alcohol recorded a +2.3% YoY and +0.3% MoM increase (seasonally unadjusted). Bev-alc at home increased +1.2% YoY and +0.5% MoM.

Insiders can read more, including the CPI for beer away from home, and how the category compares to wine and spirits.

West Coast rap legends and business moguls Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg announced they are back at it, but the drop isn’t a new track. Announced Monday was a ready-to-drink (RTD) collaboration – inspired by the duo’s iconic “Gin & Juice” song – that is now rolling out across the U.S.

The new canned cocktail was teased via a video on Twitter/X this weekend recreating a version of the opening scene from Martin Scorsese’s 1990 mob classic, Goodfellas. 

Gin & Juice is the first release from the new “premium spirits company” led by the founders of On The Rocks Cocktails (OTR), Patrick Halbert, Andrew Gill and Rocco Milano. On The Rocks was purchased by Beam Suntory in 2020.

The 5.9% ABV canned cocktail is available in four flavors: Citrus, Melon, Passionfruit, and Apricot. 

Gin & Juice will be rolling out throughout the U.S. through early spring, with more offerings to be announced in the future, according to the release. The launch comes as Snoop Dogg’s 1993 debut album, Doggystyle, produced by Dr. Dre, celebrates its 30th anniversary.

Insiders can read more, including background on the Beam/OTR deal and Snoop Doog’s other bev-alc investments.

👋 Hey, it’s Justin. This Valentine’s Day package from New Belgium and Bell’s hit my doorstep late last week.

This box was packed with goodies, including: 

• A can of Dominga Mimosa Sour (6% ABV);
• A can of Big Hearted IPA (9.5% ABV); 
• A Goodio Orange Zest craft chocolate bar;
• A pack of Shar Impossibly Good trail mix;
• And a New Belgium/Bell’s branded bamboo wireless charging pad. 

For someone whose phone is always on the verge of dying, the charging pad is a godsend. Nothing says love like a fully charged phone.