• 🍎 Cider Has ‘Huge Opportunity’
• 🆕 Top 10 New Craft in 2023
• 🤝 Mass. Breweries Raise Awareness for Self-Distro
• 🔮 On Tap: CiderCon Coverage, Brewbound Podcast
• ⏮️ ICYMI: Deals, Craft Leadership & 2023 Data

Hard cider outpaced beer in dollar sales gains in 2023, increasing dollar sales +1.9% year-over-year (YoY) through December 30 in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels, according to 3 Tier Beverages consultant Mary Mills’ presentation at CiderCon Thursday in Portland, Oregon.

Beer dollar sales increased +1.4% in NIQ-tracked channels (total U.S. xAOC + liquor plus + convenience). Cider volume declined -2.7% YoY, slightly below declines for beer (-3%). 

While the trends are positive for the hard cider segment – at least in terms of dollar sales – there’s still a lot of runway for hard cider, Mills said, analyzing consumer penetration percentages (the percentage of consumers drinking hard cider, according to Nielsen omnichannel data).

Hard cider penetration is relatively flat, down -0.5% YoY through November 2, to 6.9%. Beer penetration declined -0.7% YoY, but still significantly outweighs hard cider at 72.9%. Wine and spirits are similarly in about the 70% range, according to Mills.

Mills said: “The opportunity here is penetration. We still have a huge opportunity to reach consumers that are in a very adjacent category that are drinking alcohol.”

The annual dollars spent per buyer on cider is up +5.6%, to $35, and the amount of dollars spent per buying occasion is up +6.4%, to $12.82. The amount of buying occasions for cider is down -0.8%, to 2.7, meaning that the increase in dollars isn’t from consumers buying cider more often, but rather spending more per trip, Mills noted.

Mills said: “That can be two different things. They are seeing inflation at the shelf, so they’re spending more on average, whether they like it or not. They also could be trading up, so they’re going for a larger pack size, they’re going for a more premium brand.”

While Mills encouraged cider producers to look at ways to attract consumers from other categories and segments, she also warned them not to overdo innovation.

Mills said: “Ten,15 years ago, we were talking about new packages — that's all there was.” She referenced her time at Molson Coors (then MillerCoors), and the excitement industry members had over package innovations such as screw tops and white cans.

“We just didn't have this kind of innovation, so now it is overwhelming. There's probably a happy medium that we need to settle a bit so that there's not so much, because it's overwhelming to consumers too.”

Mills also dove into regional cider performance, as well as package and flavor trends. Insiders can read more here.

The ten best-selling new craft brands of 2023 included three Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) craft brands and two from Indiana’s Three Floyds, according to an analysis of full-year 2023 data by Bump Williams Consulting. 

Here’s a look at the top 10, in order of dollar sales: :

1. A-B-owned Wicked Weed Perni-Haze IPA ($3.8 million);
2. Three Floyds variety pack ($2.6 million);
3. Three Floyds Zombie Ice Pale Ale ($2.58 million);
4. Lawson’s Finest Liquids Hazy Rays IPA ($2.3 million);
5. A-B-owned Golden Road California Classics variety pack ($2.3 million);
6. A-B-owned Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Bananas Foster Stout ($1.95 million);
7. Great Lakes Vibacious Double IPA ($1.83 million);
8. NODA Cheerwine Wheat Ale ($1.79 million);
9. Boston Beer-owned Dogfish Head Citrus Squall Double Golden Ale ($1.76 million);
10. Heineken-owned Lagunitas Tiki Fusion Zombie IPA ($1.69 million).

Outside of the top 10, A-B owned two additional top 25 brands: Elysian Hazy 96 IPA (No. 11 with $1.5 million in sales) and Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Eagle Rare 2-Year Reserve imperial stout ($1.2 million in sales). 

Three new beer brands from Artisanal Brewing Ventures also made the top 25: Southern Tier Imperial Caramel Pumking Ale (No. 12, $1.2 million in sales), Southern Tier 2x Juice Jolt Double IPA (No. 18, $1 million), and Victory Juicy Monkey IPA ($946,000). 

Overall, 15 of the top 25 new brands were hoppy beers, if not more due to variety packs. Other IPAs in the back half of the top 25 included:

• No. 14 Deschutes Symphonic Chronic Double IPA ($1.19 million in sales);
• No. 15 Allagash Hop Reach IPA ($1.165 million);
• No. 20 Great Lakes IPA variety pack ($977,000);
• No. 22 Night Shift IPA variety pack ($935,000);
• No. 23 Summit Saga Hazy IPA ($906,000);
• No. 24 Saint Arnold Banger IPA ($900,000);
• And Founders 4 Giants Tropical Treasure IPA ($825,000).

One new non-alcoholic offering made the top 25: Samuel Adams Gold Rush at No. 16.

Other new brands making the cut: New Holland Dragon’s Milk Tales of Gold bourbon barrel-aged golden ale (No. 17, $1.06 million in sales) and Mother Earth Cali Combo cream ale variety pack (No. 19, $1.02 million).

Craft brewery deal activity picked up last week with a pair of notable transactions. The week wrapped with a deal between two New England legacy craft breweries: Smuttynose parent company Finestkind Brewing in New Hampshire announced the acquisition of Wachusett Brewing in Massachusetts. 

Notably, 90% of Wachusett’s workforce will be retained.

Also last week, private equity firm Orkila Capital has sold a 20% stake in Denmark’s Mikkeller to Carlsberg. Founder Mikkel Bjergsø is retaining a controlling interest in the business, as well as the CEO role.

New Belgium Brewing has made a minority investment in Open Brewing, which was founded by skateboarding legends Don “Nuge” Nguyen, Tino Razo and Ako and Atiba Jefferson, and run by pro snowboarder and ESPN analyst Keir Dillon.

The turnover of leadership at top craft breweries across the U.S. has continued into 2024. Maria Stipp, who guided Stone Brewing as CEO to a sale and through an integration with the Japanese brewing giant Sapporo, announced Friday that she would be exiting the company, effective January 26. CFO Zachary Keeling will step in as interim CEO until the company finds a permanent replacement.

Heineken-owned Lagunitas is bringing on another Heineken vet as head of sales. Peter Green will join the Petaluma, California-based craft brewery in March. He spent 14 years at Heineken, most recently as sales director for Heineken Europe.

The succession plan is unfolding at independent Anheuser-Busch wholesaler Hensley Beverage. Andy McCain was appointed CEO last week, and Omar Perez was promoted to CFO.

Taproom operation reform is coming to New Jersey. Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill into law last week to ease restrictions on everything from showing sports on TVs to requiring brewery tours. The new law will also recall inactive liquor licenses that are unused for two years. 

Brewbound’s Zoe Licata was on the road for the annual CiderCon convention last week in Portland, Oregon. Her first report covers the introduction of the Bubble Tax Modernization Act of 2024, which would eliminate higher tax rates on all cider, wine and mead under 8.5% ABV.

The end-of-year data recaps keep coming. Craft off-premise sales declined almost -1%, to $4.7 billion in 2023. Volume fell even steeper (-4.4%). Zoom in on 2023’s craft scans. 

Seven of NIQ’s top 25 growth brands of 2023 were non-alcoholic beers, while seven other brands belonged to New Belgium and Bell’s Brewery. Dive into a big 2023 craft data recap. 

2023 was a big year for Constellation Brands and Molson Coors. Here’s a recap of their 2023 performance in scans and the jockeying to be the No. 2 beer category vendor.

Meanwhile, sales of U.S. craft spirits exceeded $7.9 billion in 2022, according to 2023 Craft Spirits Data Project shared by the American Craft Spirits Association. Although there was growth, the numbers declined compared to 2021 when U.S. craft spirits volume grew by +10.4% and value by +12.2%. 

Uber is pulling the plug on e-commerce alcohol delivery platform Drizly, which will cease operations in March.

Catch up on the latest Brewbound Podcast, featuring Brewbound weekend newsletter writer Sean McNulty. He and Brewbound editor Justin Kendall discuss the Drizly shut down and the end-of-year off-premise scans. 

New Belgium CEO Shaun Belongie shared that the company is taking inspiration from other beer brands for its popular Voodoo Ranger IPA franchise and looking to expand the brand outside of traditional beer channels. Belongie was among the featured speakers at the Beer Business Daily Beer Industry Summit. Diageo CEO Rodney Williams Pabst CEO Paul Chibe also shared the trajectory of their respective portfolios.

During an investor meeting last week, Monster’s top executives said they’re focused on their flavored malt beverage brands the Beast Unleashed and Nasty Beast. They also announced an impending impairment charge on the CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective and plans to rationalize some brands.

Need all of last year’s story, but with GIFs? We have you covered.

Expect additional coverage from last week’s CiderCon event in Portland, Oregon, coming this week to Brewbound.com. 

Also, Jess, Zoe and Justin reconvene to recap a big week of news, including a couple acquisitions and several people moves. Look for the podcast in your feeds midweek.

Massachusetts craft brewers have teamed up to boost awareness of a bill that would allow brewpubs to self-distribute up to 50,000 gallons (about 1,612 barrels) annually. Farmer-brewers, the Bay State’s most common license for craft brewers, can self-distribute up to 10,000 barrels. 

The Mass Brewers Guild wrote: “Pub-brewery license holders are the only brewery class in Massachusetts that cannot self-distribute their products. It’s a limitation that results in lost revenue, more trucks on the roads, and added administrative burdens for pub-brewery owners.”

Breweries across the state gathered to collaborate on two different beers to raise awareness about the bill. Vanished Valley, Amherst Brewing, Antimony Brewing, Hot Plate Brewing, Northampton Brewing, Shire Brewing, Skyline Beer and New City Brewery gathered to brew H.401 New England IPA. Moon Hill Brewing, Lost Towns Brewing and Thirsty Robot collaborated on H.401 Pale Ale. 

Another legislative priority for the MBG is Bill S.478, which would allow craft brewers to sell beer at farmers markets, where sales of wine, cider and mead are permitted.