Molson Coors Beverage Company

The beer category’s sluggish summer was apparent in Molson Coors’ third quarter earnings, which the company reported last week. Net sales in the Americas declined -11%, driven by a -15.6% decline in financial volumes “and unfavorable foreign currency impacts, partially offset by favorable price and sales mix,” Molson Coors wrote in its earnings report.

Molson Coors will cease operations at the Leinenkugel’s Chippewa Falls brewery and the company’s Tenth Street Brewery in Milwaukee, effective January 17.

While beer consumers – particularly core craft fans – once cared more about brand and where a product was made, most bev-alc consumers are now prioritizing price, quality and availability, among other factors. This has caused not only a shift in how craft beer is produced and marketed (hello, contract brewing boom), but also trends in imported beer.

Molson Coors Beverage Company is bringing an innovation portfolio of 8% ABV offerings strictly for the convenience channel as part of its above premium strategy for 2025.

Molson Coors chief commercial officer Michelle St. Jacques laid out the company’s 2025 strategy in the U.S. as part of its “next chapter” as she opened the 2024 distributor convention in San Antonio Tuesday afternoon. Although the core remains a top priority, Molson Coors will put a large focus on its above premium portfolio.

As it lapped the gains made in the wake of the Bud Light boycott last year, Molson Coors recorded declines in volume and net sales during the second quarter of 2024. However, company leadership was unshaken.

Hard seltzers remain down double-digits through mid-July in Circana-tracked off-premise retailers. Hard seltzer declined -11.8% in dollars and -16.1% in volume through the rolling 52-week period ending July 14.

Molson Coors-owned Leinenkugel’s is making its flagship Summer Shandy a year-round offering. Leinenkugel’s president Tony Bugher and John Leinenkugel discuss why the move represents the company getting out of its own way, how big the brand is for its business and how they plan to support the brand in the colder months.

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) trends continue to improve in the latest monthly off-premise scans report from market research firm Circana. Meanwhile, positive growth trends for Molson Coors and Constellation Brands – the two largest gainers from A-B’s declines – decelerated, according to data through May 19.

Production at craft breweries outside of the Brewers Association’s (BA) craft brewer definition collectively declined -6% on a comparable basis, to nearly 7.6 million barrels in 2023, according to data shared in the May/June edition of the New Brewer Magazine.

Molson Coors is shifting production of full-strength Peroni Nastro Azzurro to its brewery in Albany, Georgia, beginning in August.

Teamsters have voted to ratify a contract with Molson Coors, ending a more than three-month-long strike at the major brewer’s Fort Worth, Texas, facility.

Former Molson Coors exec Pete Marino has found a new role as president of Kentucky-based Bardstown Bourbon Co.

Move over domestic premiums, imports are king. Imports overtook domestic premiums in dollar sales in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels in the four-week period ending April 20, making imports the No. 1 beer segment in scans.