The fallout of Bud Light’s sales declines has led to several gains for Molson Coors in the second quarter with potentially more on the horizon.
During Tuesday’s call with investors and analysts, Molson Coors president and CEO Gavin Hattersley noted that several retailers have moved up the timing of their shelf resets from the spring to the fall.
“Currently, nearly 20 of our top retailers are updating the planograms to drive more space for our brands and keep them in stock based on the latest demand,” Hattersley said.
“Frankly, that number [of retailers] grows every week,” Hattersley continued.
For retailers sticking to spring resets, “those conversations are well underway,” he added.
It was a much different response than that of Boston Beer CEO Dave Burwick last week, who said the company is “not hearing back from retailers that there’s anything significantly different that’s going to happen” with fall resets, even with continued Bud Light declines.
Hattersley pointed to Molson Coors posting the No. 1 retail display dollar gains year-to-date, which he said is an early indicator of shelf space gains.
“We’re working closely with our retailers to change the shelf space to meet this new reality,” he said.
Those shelf set gains come as Molson Coors reported its best quarterly brand volume trends in the U.S. since 2008, with Coors Lite, Miller Lite and Coors Banquet each recording double-digit growth.
Hattersley highlighted Coors Light as growing more industry dollar share than any other beer brand in Q2, and growing industry dollar share faster than Modelo Especial and Corona Extra combined. Miller Lite’s performance “is remarkably similar,” he added. In Q2, Coors Light and Miller Lite combined were 50% larger than Bud Light by total industry dollars and 30% larger than Modelo Especial.
Hattersley credited the growth to the revitalization plan implemented three years ago.
“While we didn’t plan our largest competitor’s largest brand declining volume by nearly -30% during the quarter, if this had happened in 2019, we would surely not have seen the sales benefit that we did in 2023 or even been able to meet the demand,” Hattersley said.
Although Molson Coors has historically under-indexed in the convenience channel – beer’s strongest channel – the company is posting “strong” growth with volume and dollar sales up double digits, Hattersley said. The company plans to “capitalize on this momentum” by increasing its investment behind c-store shopper marketing the rest of the year.
Molson Coors’ Q2 wins weren’t limited to off-premise sales.
Coors Light, Miller Lite and Blue Moon brands have gained more than 12,000 new tap handles in the quarter.
Molson Coors posted better Q2 on-premise trends than its off-premise business in the U.S., Hattersley said. The company’s on-premise business in Q2 grew low-single-digit better than its off-premise business, Hattersley added. The tap handle gains were about 10% higher.
“It’s a meaningful number,” he said.
The momentum for Molson Coors’ brands has continued in Q3, Hattersley said. The company plans to help drive that momentum with an extra $100 million earmarked for marketing.
Several analysts’ questions centered around Molson Coors’ ability to meet demand and sustain the momentum. Hattersley admitted that some distributors in pockets of the country where the momentum is “really strong” may be experiencing out-of-stocks. Some wholesalers are growing between +30% and +50%, he noted. The company has done “a great job of keeping up with the expected demand,” he said.
More capacity is on the way as the company’s contract brewing arrangement with Pabst Brewing is “winding down.” The end of the deal will present a revenue and volume headwind for the company in Q4, but the company will be able to replace that volume (a -2 to -3% decline) with its own brands heading into 2024, Hattersley said.