Teamsters picket Molson Coors Texas brewery over pay dispute

USA | The same week that Molson Coors announced record profits, it offered its workers less than a dollar in new wages. This angered the Teamsters union and more than 400 members began a strike at Molson Coors’ Fort Worth brewery, Texas, on 17 February.

New Belgium closes San Francisco brewery and taproom

USA | It is not just AB-InBev which is shuttering taprooms. Craft brewer New Belgium, which is owned by Japan’s Kirin, announced in early February that it has ceased operations at its San Francisco Mission Bay brewpub and restaurant with immediate effect.

Molson Coors hikes marketing spending to steal from Bud Light

USA | Molson Coors ended its 2023 financial year with net sales growth of 9.4 percent to USD 11.7 billion, thus meeting its full-year guidance. The firm increased its underlying net income by 32 percent to USD 1.2 billion. One of the drivers of that growth was the downfall of Bud Light.

Beer prices differ widely across the US

USA | Colleagues from the wine industry did a survey of beer prices across dozens of US cities. It revealed that a 6-pack of Heineken in 2022 cost nearly twice as much in New York than in Chicago. How can this be explained?

Diageo and Sean Combs settle their legal feud

USA | Drinks firm Diageo and the former rapper known as Diddy settled their dispute, thus narrowly avoiding a public trial over their vodka and tequila ventures.

AB-InBev closes Wynwood and Golden Road taprooms

USA | Ten years ago, AB-InBev seemed like the biggest threat to American craft brewing when it snapped up breweries across the country. Now, it seems that craft beer is suffering from declining consumer interest and the brands acquired by AB-InBev are not spared.

Craft beer saves Tilray from cannabis slowdown

USA | How bizarre: Canadian cannabis maker Tilray Brands will start planting vegetables and fruit in Quebec to make money from its unneeded cannabis cultivation space. Luckily, its acquisition of eight craft beer brands from AB-InBev in August 2023 for reportedly USD 85 million, paid off in its fiscal second quarter (ended November). Otherwise, inventors might have begun to despair.

USA | Constellation Brands’ beer business gained further ground in its third quarter (until the end of November) after its Modelo Especial toppled Bud Light as the best-selling beer in the US last year. Net beer sales were up 4 percent to USD 1.97 billion, led by an approximately 12 percent increase in sales of Modelo Especial.

Japan's Asahi to make Super Dry beer in US after acquisition

USA | Japan's Asahi bought Wisconsin-based Octopi Brewing and will use the contract beverage maker's facility to brew its flagship Super Dry beer in the US for the first time.

In 2023, US beer sales dip to lowest level in 24 years

USA | It was not just Bud Light that took a hit in 2023. It was a tough year for the beer industry in general. Volume sales were down 5 percent in the US for the first nine months of last year – and on track for the lowest annual level since 1999, according to estimates by the trade publication Beer Marketer's Insights.