As the Brewbound team gets ready to embark on another road trip next week, Zoe and Jess are wrapping up their own recent journeys.
Zoe ventured to Maine for the New England Craft Brew Summit in Portland, and she picked up more than a few nuggets from that trip. Notably, Brewers Association chief economist Bart Watson offered an early read on 2022 production numbers. So far: Volume is up +0.6% for the year. This, of course, could change as more info rolls in, but it’s well below earlier predictions of +5%.
“My prediction is we’re going to see very, very slight growth when all is said and done,” Watson said.
We’ll keep you posted as this develops, but we’ll likely have the full picture by the Craft Brewers Conference in May.
Watson also offered suggestions on connecting with new consumers and an update on his 2023 predictions. Read it all here.
Meanwhile, Bump Williams of Bump Williams Consulting offered some data on New England craft beer outpacing national trends. Williams also stressed why price matters, pointing to sales increases of malt liquor. Follow the link for more.
And if you missed Jess’ coverage of Constellation Brands’ Gold Network Summit, follow this link to hear about their strategy to make Modelo Especial the top-selling beer brand in the U.S., the company’s big bet on Michelob Ultra challenger Modelo Oro and plans to launch a non-alcoholic version of Corona.
As I mentioned, our whole team is hitting the road. First up, Sacramento for the California Craft Brewers Association Summit (March 20-22). We’ll be recording live podcasts on the expo floor t and much more, so see us there.
Then, we’re heading to Nashville for Brew Talks during the Craft Brewers Conference. We’ll kick things off on Sunday, May 7, at Nashville Underground. Join us for beers, networking, and conversations with Dogfish Head’s Sam Calagione, Athletic Brewing’s Bill Shufelt, Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company’s Colleen Quinn, Monday Night Brewing’s Jeff Heck and much more. Get your tickets here.
In other news …
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for beer at home in February continued to outpace overall inflation. The CPI for beer at home was up +7% compared to February 2022, outpacing the index for all items (+6%), beer away from home (+5.3%) and total beverage alcohol (+4.9%). Now you know why Bump is warning about price hikes.
Through the first two months of 2023, those price hikes aren’t helping dollars or volume. Circana, the market research firm formerly known as IRI (and formerly formerly known as IRI Worldwide) reported that off-premise dollar sales for the beer category are -4%, while volume declined -8.6%.
Hit the link for more about the performance of New Belgium’s Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA (now the No. 1 craft beer in the convenience channel), Voodoo Ranger Juice Force (now the No. 5 craft beer brand in multi-outlet and convenience stores) and Voodoo Ranger Fruit Force IPA (which cracked the top 30 best-selling craft beer brands). Plus, non-alc beer maker Athletic Brewing is holding onto a spot among the top 25 beer category vendors.
Last week was a tense one for Castle Island founder Adam Romanow. His Massachusetts craft brewery found itself at the mercy of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse. Romanow detailed how the company’s bank accounts were frozen for 72 hours. Thankfully, federal intervention led to Castle Island being made whole. Read all about the ordeal in the link.
How do you define beer? That’s not some existential question but the crux of Anheuser-Busch InBev subsidiary Grupo Modelo’s lawsuit against Constellation Brands. This all stems from the launch of Corona Hard Seltzer, which Grupo Modelo argued fell outside of the sub-licensing agreement the two companies reached when A-B divested itself of Mexican beer brands Corona and Modelo to satisfy regulators in 2013. Ultimately, a jury sided with Constellation’s view that hard seltzers fall in the beer bucket. More here.
Ball, the world’s largest aluminum can maker, is in talks to close another can manufacturing plant – which would make three in the last six months. The plant in question is in Wallkill, New York, which opened in 1972. Ball is in talks with employees and union reps there about shutting down the plant and transferring the volume to other facilities. Recent closures include Phoenix, Arizona (Q4 2022), and St. Paul, Minnesota (Q1 2023). More in the link.
Although there isn’t a can crunch at this time, cans remain pricey, Octopi Brewing founder and president Isaac Showaki shared on this week’s Brewbound Podcast. Showaki shares where he sees the trendlines going in beverage, fills us in on the state of contract brewing and much more. Listen free here.
Some Oregon lawmakers are once again pushing legislation from public health advocates that would raise taxes on beer and cider produced in the state from $2.60 per 31-gallon barrel to $33.60 per barrel by 2028. That would be the second-highest rate in the country, just behind Tennessee. Oregon Brewers Guild executive director Christina LaRue told Jess that she doesn’t foresee the bill having the votes to pass.
New Belgium is launching Wild Nectar Hard Juice in four states: Colorado, North Carolina, Illinois and Pennsylvania. What is Wild Nectar? A 5% ABV gluten-free hard juice that is “slightly sweet and lightly carbonated.” Drinkers are encouraged to turn the can upside down to distribute the pulp evenly. Keep an eye on this one.
That’s a wrap on this week. See many of you on the road next week. Thanks again for all of your support!