Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.
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selections in other drinks categories. MillerCoors is juggling a similarly broad selection of brands. Dan Wandell says "I think probably the brand that sticks out most right now from the domestic main- stream in its performance is Coors Light. It's up slightly in volume and up almost 2% in dollars in supermarkets, and that's a big brand. So that's encouraging for MillerCoors." Last year, MillerCoors created a separate craft and import company, Tenth and Blake. Blue Moon, the beer that introduced the Belgian wit beer style to a wide American audience, is the jewel in that particular crown. Leinenkugel, the Wisconsin heritage brewery, gives Tenth and Blake craft-like caché, although true craft- style innovation may ultimately come from tiny AC Golden, housed on the giant Coors brewing campus. A handful of medium- to high-end imports complete the catalog, and give MillerCoors the potential to insert a brand into any niche. The Import Scene T he import category has returned to posi- tive growth this year, up 0.9% overall. Certainly, imports as a class face some shared issues—international transportation concerns or currency exchange rates—that do not affect domestic beers as a class. At the same time, the two biggest imports, Corona and Heineken, occupy positions six and eleven on the list of all top-selling beers in the U.S. They have much in common with domestic premium beers, whereas smaller, more specialized imported brands probably have more overlap with craft or specialty beer. Crown's president, Bill Hackett, looks back on 2010 with qualified satisfaction. "We didn't perform as well as we could have, had the economy been back on track," he says. "That being said, we still did better than the rest of the market- place. We ended the year up by 1.8%, against the overall industry that was down 2%." But the company's six major brands come from Mexico, and that's "a double-edged sword" for the company. "We draw a signifi- cant portion of our consumers from blue-collar and grey-collar workers, specifically Hispanic workers," a group that identifies with that particular aspect of the brands, Hackett says. Many of Brand " Craft beer has entered the portfolio of the majority of American beer drinkers." —Jim Koch, founder, Boston Beer Co. these consumers are un- or under-employed, and this may have contributed to the small loss for Corona and the big gains for Modelo Especial in 2010. The new Guinness Black Lager is now being rolled out in the U.S. "In many cases, the con- sumers are one and the same: they drink Modelo on one occasion, they drink Corona on another occasion. They previously might have consumed Modelo Especial through the week and Corona on the weekend. Maybe now they'll stay with Modelo Especial, just because disposable income is down." But Crown has also identified a bridge to more expensive and craft-inspired beers for the right audience. They introduced the oldest beer in Mexico, Victoria, to American markets last year. In contrast to Crown's positioning relative to the national origin of its brands and at least some of its customers, Heineken is scarcely identified with its Dutch roots. Instead, Heineken reaches out to the (000 2.25 Gallon Cases) Brewer 2009 2010 % Chg Corona Extra . . . . . . . . . . .Crown Imports . . . . . .100,197 . . . . . .98,193 . . . . . .-2.0% Heineken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Heineken USA . . . . . . .58,800 . . . . . .56,000 . . . . . .-4.8% Modelo Especial . . . . . . . . .Crown Imports . . . . . .26,729 . . . . . .30,872 . . . . .15.5% Tecate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Heineken USA . . . . . . . .19,310 . . . . . .17,700 . . . . . .-8.3% Dos Equis . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Heineken USA . . . . . . . .11,750 . . . . . .14,000 . . . . . .19.1% Corona Light . . . . . . . . . . . .Crown Imports . . . . . .13,243 . . . . . .13,057 . . . . . .-1.4% Guinness Stout . . . . . . . . . .Diageo-Guinness . . . . .11,949 . . . . . . .11,975 . . . . . .0.2% Stella Artois . . . . . . . . . . . . .AB InBev . . . . . . . . . . . . .9,900 . . . . . .11,900 . . . . .20.2% Labatt Blue . . . . . . . . . . . . .N.A. Breweries . . . . . . .10,500 . . . . . .10,900 . . . . . .3.8% Heineken Premium Light Total Leading Imported Brands Others 88,822 Total Imported Beer . .Heineken USA . . . . . . . .8,400 . . . . . . .7,700 . . . . . .-8.3% 270,778 272,297 90,503 359,600 362,800 0.6% 1.9% 0.9% Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • September/October 2011 • 43