• 📊 New Beer SKUs Decline, Shelf Space Shrinks
• 🍹 Beyond Beer ROS +69% in On-Premise
• 🍶 Arkansas Sake Maker Plots Future Growth
• ⛵️ Mayflower Halts Closure; Trump on Tariffs
• 🗣️ Sales Chief on Peroni's Growth Trajectory
• 🍺 Three Floyds Launches Light Lager

Beer’s battle for shelf space is nowhere near over, according to data from Bump Williams Consulting (BWC), shared by president Dave Williams earlier this month during Beer Business Daily’s Beer, Wine and Spirits Summit in Palm Beach, Florida. 

Beer has fought to keep its shelf space, working against calls for more beyond beer offerings. However, the number of beer SKUs have now been cut for the second consecutive year as space continues to shrink, according to Williams. 

Total beer SKUs at off-premise retailers declined -6% in 2024, to just over 35,000, Williams shared, citing NIQ data through December 28, 2024. The contraction follows a -3% decline in 2023, to more than 37,000 SKUs. 

The largest cuts came from hard seltzer, which saw its SKUs reduced by -12% in 2024, followed by craft and imports (-6%, each). 

New SKUs entering the market are declining at an even more rapid pace. In 2024, new beer SKUs declined -19.9%, to 3,542. That followed a -17.3% decline in 2023, to 4,424. Similar to total SKU trends, hard seltzer recorded the largest YoY decline in new SKUs (-40%), followed by craft (-23%) and imports (-12%).

SKU cuts have become a necessity as shelf space shrinks for nearly all beer segments, and retailers continue to prioritize trending segments such as NA beer and RTDs.

The average number of beer items on shelf per off-premise location declined -1.4% YoY in 2024, to 234.5 items. 

Two beer segments gained shelf space – FMBs (+6.9%, to 40.6) and imports (+2%, to 44.8) – which were outweighed by all other beer segments recording a decline in average number of items, including:

• Hard seltzer (-11.4%, to 17.9);
• Craft (-4.6%, to 57.9);
• Hard cider (-3.6%, to 8.3);
• Premium (-2.3%, to 34);
• Super premium (-1.4%, to 17.6);
• And below premium (-1.2%, to 18.9).

Meanwhile, NA beer (+16.2%, to 10 items), wine cocktails (+10.8%, 14.3) and spirits-based RTDs (+9.4%, to 48.2) all recorded gains. 

Williams said: “Everyone's getting a little smarter about space being finite. You gotta focus on the must haves versus nice to haves, and so the number of new brands hitting the shelves is not a firehose of new anymore.”

Insiders can read more, including expectations for 2025 based on the different growth strategies of manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

Arkansas-based Origami Sake is attempting to make the traditional rice wine more approachable to American drinkers by pairing its premium-positioned products with transparent packaging callouts and a new non-alc variety that caters to moderating consumers.

Co-founder and president Matt Bell said: “Back in 2016, my experience with sake as an Arkansan was the same experience that most of my friends had, warm sake that tasted bitter and wasn’t great to drink. It was something you did at a hibachi or sushi restaurant once a year.”

Yet, when Bell met wine expert Matt Bell (no relation) and tried premium sake, “it was an epiphany,” he said.

The two Bells partnered to establish Origami in their home state, the heart of American rice country. The brewery began producing its first batches of sake in October 2022, with sales starting in the middle of 2023. 

Origami is the largest U.S.-owned sake producer, but is also one of the few to own and operate a rice polishing facility, a necessary part of sake production.

Last month, the company announced a distribution partnership with Republic National Distributing Company. Origami also received a vote of confidence in the form of a $100,000 investment after winning InvestBev’s Fall 2024 Accelerator pitch competition.

Insiders can read more about Oragami’s category-building efforts in the U.S.

⛵️ Mayflower Brewing will not be closing after striking a distribution deal with Sheehan Family Companies, the Boston Business Journal reported. The distribution deal goes into effect January 26 for Eastern Massachusetts. 

The Plymouth, Massachusetts-based, 17-year-old craft brewery said the deal will allow it to continue operations, including its taproom and beer gardens

💸 President Trump gave an update on tariffs Monday, during a meeting with reporters following his swearing-in ceremony, Bloomberg reported. 

He said 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada could be coming as soon as February 1, noting that the tariffs are in response to the two countries allegedly “allowing vast numbers of people” to cross borders into the U.S. Note, Trump previously said tariffs would be a part of his Day One round of Executive Orders, but that was not the case.  

The rate of sale (ROS) for beyond beer offerings increased +69% YoY in 2024, according to BeerBoard – an on-premise, draft-centric market research firm – in its 2024 On-Premise Year in Review report. 

Beyond beer also increased its share of on-premise packaged products +13.5% YoY, led by ready-to-drink cocktails (RTDs), which increased volume +121.5% YoY. 

The top beyond beer brands by YoY volume increases in the on-premise included:

• Surfside (vodka-based hard tea and lemonade);
• Gallo’s High Noon Sun Sips (vodka- and tequila-based hard seltzer);
• Happy Dad (malt/sugar-based hard seltzer);
• Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Nütrl (vodka-based hard seltzer);
• Mark Anthony Brands’ White Claw (malt/sugar-based hard seltzer). 

Dive into BeerBoard’s full report here, including 2024 performances for draft and packaged beer and wine and spirits, as well as BeerBoard’s predictions for 2025 trends.

– Molson Coors president of U.S. sales Brian Feiro said last week during Beer Business Daily’s Beer, Wine and Spirits Summit in Palm Beach, Florida.

Peroni Nastro Azzurro, an Italian import (although U.S. production was moved to Georgia last year), is Molson Coors’ 14th largest beer brand by 2024 dollar sales in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels, according to data shared by 3 Tier Beverages. The brand family increased off-premise dollar sales +4.1% and volume +0.8% YTD (data ending December 28). 

Peroni’s growth has been driven by Peroni 0.0, its non-alc extension, which is still produced in Italy. Peroni 0.0 dollar sales have increased +95.7% and volume +97.2% YTD. However, YTD dollar sales are about one-tenth of full-strength Peroni, which recorded a -1.1% decline in dollar sales and -4.3% in volume. 

Other priorities for Molson Coors include:

• Coors Light, which is now the No. 1 beer brand in grocery, according to Feiro (Note: latest Circana scans still list A-B’s Michelob Ultra as the No. 1 in grocery YTD, followed by Coors Light);
• Coors Banquet, Molson Coors’ “rocketship” and the “fastest growing brand” of the 15 largest brands in beer;
• Miller Lite, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year;
• Blue Moon, which has “nice traction” and is gaining momentum.

Three Floyds Brewing has launched its first beer offering “outside of the craft category.” 

The Indiana brewery released Floyds Deluxe lager this month, a “lighter-style premium lager” made with Indiana corn grits. Note, Three Floyds launched a line of canned cocktails in 2024. 

Floyds Deluxe stats:

• ABV: 4.5%;
• Package: 12 oz. bottle 6-packs, 12 oz. can 12-packs, 16 oz. can 4-packs and draft;
• Availability: Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Read more details in the press release, including comments from Three Floyds leadership on why it was the right time for the brewery to look beyond craft, and how the offering is still staying true to the Three Floyds brand.

New Belgium Brewing resumed brewing at its Asheville, North Carolina-based production facility for the first time since Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on the region and shut down the brewery’s operations. 

More than three months after being knocked offline, Voodoo Ranger Juice Force will be the first beer going into the tanks in Asheville, with packaged products expected to follow in March. 

New Belgium CEO Shaun Belongie joins the Brewbound Podcast to discuss the comeback in Asheville, the company’s still-unfolding contingency plans and the road ahead. 

Belongie also shares New Belgium’s 2025 plans.

Listen here or on your preferred podcasting platform.