• 🚚 Boston Beer Expands Slingers RTD Footprint
• 🤝 Asahi Group Backs NA Retailer The Zero Proof
• 💰 Veza Sur Property For Sale in Miami
• 🥫 BI Praises The False Claims Enhancement Act
• 🍺 Nik Modi: Beer Needs ‘to Change the Narrative’
• 👨🏻 Videorama: Mich Ultra Super Bowl Teasers
• 🏎️ Molson Coors Jumps to Ferrari

Boston Beer Company continues to slowly expand distribution of Slingers Signature Cocktails, its high-ABV, malt-based, ready-to-drink canned cocktails (RTDs). 

The 8% ABV RTDs, available in 24 oz. single-serve cans, launched in April 2023 in three markets: Cleveland, Pittsburgh and New Hampshire. This month, the brand will add distribution of its three flavors – Bahama Mama, Peach Screwdriver and Pineapple Punch – in Las Vegas, and expand distribution in Pennsylvania. In March, the brand will also push further into Ohio and enter Vermont. 

With the changes, Slingers will expand its distribution network from three wholesalers to 19 wholesalers. 

Boston Beer assistant head of innovation Tim Kerrigan said in a press release: “We view this expansion as not only a huge geographical leap for the brand, but an opportunity for Slingers to fully connect with a wider variety of consumers in each of its local markets.”

Boston Beer teased the expansion of Slingers in November, along with the addition of a new non-alcoholic adult beverage brand, General Admission – a beer and fruit water hybrid – and the discontinuation of Loma Vista Tequila Soda. 

With Slingers, Boston Beer is focused on the convenience channel. In 2023, the brand recorded more than $232,000 in dollar sales and more than 6,000 case sales in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels. 

🪚 SingleCut Beersmiths Re-Enters Maryland and Washington, D.C.

Queens, New York-based SingleCut Beersmiths will be available in Maryland and Washington, D.C., again after a brief hiatus, thanks to a partnership with the Craft Coalition. 

SingleCut paused distribution in both markets in May after the closure of Legends Limited, a Sheehan Family distributor. Chesapeake Beverage Co. acquired the distribution rights to several brands in Legends Limited’s portfolio, but not SingleCut. Instead, the brewery went through “a laborious search” for a new distributor and “with some intel from local retailers on their pick for the best distroes to with worth,” chose to partner with the Craft Coalition, according to a press release.  

SingleCut’s total off-premise sales were significantly impacted in 2023, with both dollar sales and volume in NIQ-tracked channels declining -51.5% versus 2022.

SingleCut founder Rich Buceta said in the release: "We are thrilled to work with a distribution partner that understands the care and dedication required for our beers and that also will portray the SingleCut culture and brand spirit enthusiastically to the Maryland and D.C. marketplaces.”

Insiders can read more, including distribution expansion news from Métier Brewing, Rupee Beer and Batson River Brewing.

As Dry January wraps up, non-alc (NA) retailer The Zero Proof announced today the closing of its Series A funding round, led by the Asahi Group Beverages & Innovation, the U.S.-based venture arm of Asahi Group Holdings, with participation from the company’s previous lead investor, Overline, along with Springdale Ventures.

The company will use the growth capital to ramp up its wholesale business and plans to hire salespeople in key markets, expand its distribution network nationwide, grow its base of key retail accounts and broaden its wholesale portfolio. 

The Zero Proof is one of a handful of new retailers that have capitalized on the double-digit growth of the adult NA category. Like competitor Boisson, it’s now leveraging a partnership with a bev-alc giant to expand beyond e-commerce. Boisson recently landed an investment from the venture arm of Pernod Ricard – both deals illustrate how strategics are moving into the category in addition to launching zero proof versions of their flagship brands.

The investment is likely a step towards Asahi Europe & International’s ambition for 20% of their portfolio to consist of alcohol-free products by the end of the decade. 

Insiders can read more.

On the heels of last week’s news that Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) would close the Wynwood Brewing taproom and transfer its operations to its neighboring Veza Sur space, a listing for the 5,001 sq. ft. Veza Sur has popped up on real estate site LoopNet for $8 million.

According to a brochure, A-B’s lease for Veza Sur ends in July 2028, but carries one five-year option for renewal at fair market value. Rent increases +3% annually. 

The listing reads: “The property is being sold at a current 5% CAP rate with an Internationally recognized AAA-rated tenant. Between the dynamic location, the opportunity to own a highly coveted piece of real estate with a Class-A tenant with great income, and the plethora of allowable uses this building presents unparalleled cashflow opportunities.”

The property at 55 N.W. 25th St. in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood was built in 2017 and has the potential for development of “up to eight stories.”

An A-B spokesperson confirmed that the company has a long-term lease on the building, regardless if the property is sold or not.

Trade org the Beer Institute (BI) celebrated the introduction of The False Claims Enhancement Act (H.R. 7078) by Rep. Ken Buck in Congress Monday. The legislation would seek to “hold aluminum producers accountable for charging a tariffed price on non-tariffed metal,” according to the BI.

The BI said: “Brewers, beer importers and every industry that relies on aluminum are sick and tired of paying a tariff price on non-tariff metal. Our industry has felt the squeeze from Section 232 aluminum tariffs for too long. Aluminum is the single largest input cost in brewing, and the lack of transparency in aluminum pricing hurts consumers. Companies who rely on aluminum must have access to a fairly-priced product, and The False Claims Enhancement Act will protect American workers and manufacturers from those seeking to take advantage of the system.”

Aluminum tariffs have been a long-standing focus issue for the BI.

The conversation around beer category “softness” hasn't changed over the last 20 years, RBC Capital analyst Nik Modi shared in his Friday report. The cause of that softness remains the same: “ineffective marketing” by the big three brewers leading “the category to lose relevancy with consumers,” he added.

Modi wrote that categories that are labeled “poor categories” have a common trait: The industry leader failing to maintain relevance of its brands, which leads to a deterioration of category optics and other industry members to allocate resources elsewhere, worsening the problem.

“We believe the beer industry needs to change the dialogue away from category dynamics and towards brand dynamics. Consumers are not walking away from relevant beer brands. If they were, how else can you explain brands like Corona Extra, Modelo Especial and even Michelob Ultra. The key word is relevant.”

The analysis pointed to industry leader(s) failing “to keep their brands relevant” and thus creating “optics of a bad category (through pure math),” which leads other industry members to pull resources and exacerbate the problem. Modi wrote that A-B and Molson Coors have seen their volume share decline 8.7 and 8.4 points, respectively, over the last decade. The two large breweries have “been roughly a 2pt annual drag to category volume growth” over the last nine years.

Modi offered several other examples of strong brands that have bucked negative trends and grown “volume consistently,” including Constellation’s Mexican import portfolio, New Belgium, A-B’s Kona Big Wave and Molson Coors’ Blue Moon. 

Nevertheless, Modi admitted there are challenges for the beer industry, including relevancy being a challenge due to “the value equation between beer, wine and spirits” being “thrown out of whack” and the category over-indexing with lower income households relative to wine and spirits.

Also at issue is a lack of consistent marketing messaging for top beer brands not named Modelo or Corona and a loss of sight on core beer consumers in the 55-plus age demographic in favor of younger legal-drinking-age consumers. Modi wrote that 55-plus drinkers make up nearly half of the households buying across beer, wine and spirits and accounted for 41.4% of total consumer expenditures in 2022, citing Numerator data.

A case study for the industry is the turnaround of carbonated soft drinks, which grew volumes around low-single digit between 1987 and 2004 before declining in 2005 and getting a rep for being a “bad category.” A turnaround started in 2009, which Modi pinned on industry leader Coca-Cola “starting to reinvest in a consistent marketing campaign behind its brands.”

“We see this as a “rising tide lifts all boats” opportunity in beer if industry leaders improve.”

Following a Bud Light Super Bowl ad teaser that appeared to show Jason Sudeikis’ most popular mustachioed character, the actor is making a cameo in Michelob Ultra’s Super Bowl commercial, featuring futbol legend Lionel Messi playing soccer on a beach.

A-B dropped another teaser today for the brand, featuring former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino.

Watch the Sudekis teaser here, and the Marino ad here.

Molson Coors-owned Peroni is changing Formula 1 teams. Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0% is leaving the Aston Martin team for Scuderia Ferrari, the F1 racing division of Ferrari. The brand will show up with logos on Scuderia Ferrari cars and driver uniforms. 

The multiyear partnership will kick off with a limited run of Tifosi Nastro Azzurro 0.0% – 2,024 bottles of the NA beer, each individually numbered. Tifosi is the name of Scuderia Ferrari fans.

A new Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0% campaign will feature Scuderia Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in a short film titled “The Brake In.”