Molson Coors’ second quarter: cautious outlook

USA | As it lapped the gains made in the wake of the Bud Light boycott last year, which made its US market share spike dramatically, Molson Coors’s second quarter 2023 was its strongest in years. This made the comparison for its second quarter 2024 very tough.

Boston Beer is now a Twisted Tea story

USA | In a soft set of second quarter results, only Twisted Tea delivered bright results for Boston Beer. The hard iced tea accounted for 57 percent of Boston Beers’s volumes in the latest Nielsen data (Truly Hard Seltzer at just 28 percent), wrote Nadine Sarwat of Bernstein on 25 July. She noted that two years ago those percentages were reversed. These days, Twisted Tea is Boston Beer’s “only meaningful source of growth”.

Bud Light drops to number 3 spot

USA | Bud Light’s star is still falling – more than a year after a consumer boycott turned the US beer industry upside down. Modelo Especial, Michelob Ultra and Bud Light: Those are the recent sales rankings of the top three beers in the US, according to data by Bump Williams consulting firm.

Do Americans drink too much?

USA | A federal review of alcohol consumption guidelines is drawing criticism from lawmakers and industry advocates who view it as government overreach, The Wall Street Journal reported on 24 June.

New Belgium to take over US Kirin production from AB-InBev

USA | By the end of the year, the production, marketing and sales of the Kirin Ichiban and Kirin Light beers in the US will move to New Belgium’s breweries in Fort Collis, Colorado, and Asheville, North Carolina.

After Suntory, will Boston Beer do a deal with a cannabis firm?

USA | Boston Beer cannot stop making headlines. A few days after the leak of supposed deal talks between Boston Beer and Japan’s Suntory, The Wall Street Journal had another scoop. It reported on 4 June, that Chairman Jim Koch had received a letter from the CEO of the Canadian cannabis firm Green Thumb Industries on 2 June, proposing a merger.

USA | There are still entrepreneurs who like a challenge. The colourful and often sad story of San Francisco’s Anchor brewery is about to add a new chapter. Because on 31 May, media reported that the billionaire founder and CEO of Chobani Yogurt, Hamdi Ulukaya, acquired the firm lock, stock, and barrel.

Suntory denies rumour that it wants to buy Boston Beer

USA | As if doing business in such tough times was not difficult enough – Boston Beer again fell prey to rumourmongers, who suggested that it was in sales talks with Japan’s brewer and drinks firm Suntory, the owner of US whiskey brands Maker’s Mark and Jim Beam.

USA | How times are changing for the craft brewing industry. A decade after Lagunitas’ founder Tony McGee opened the Chicago brewery and taproom, all production will return to Lagunitas’ original brewery in Petaluma, California, on 1 August.

Wine firm Gallo moves into beer

USA | So Gallo seeks to transform itself into a total alcohol beverage firm? The world’s leading wine, spirits, and RTD supplier Gallo, on 15 May, announced a “strategic investment” in Montucky Cold Snacks, marking the group’s first venture into the beer category. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.