USA: Bud Light falls to the fourth place in popularity at restaurants and bars

Bud Light fell from the first place to the fourth place behind Miller Lite, Michelob Ultra, and Coors Light on the list of most popular beer brands in restaurants and bars, according to a study, NY Post reported on July 24.

The report by hospitality data firm Union found that sales of Bud Light, whose partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney sparked a nationwide boycott, fell by 34% at high-volume bars and restaurants in the second quarter.

In contrast, Miller Lite, which is property of the Molson Coors conglomerate, was catapulted to the top spot, seeing a 20.7% increase in sales during the three months that ended on June 30, according to data from Union.

Michelob Ultra, which like Bud Light is a product of Anheuser-Busch InBev, took second place, seeing a 3.6% uptick in sales.

Coors Light, which is also part of the Molson Coors family of beers, came in third place. Its sales leaped by 19.4% in the second quarter, according to Union.

Other beers are threatening to leapfrog Bud Light, including Irish lager Guinness and the Mexican upstart Modelo Especial.

The latest sales figures at retail outlets show that Modelo and Yuengling have been taking up Bud Light’s market share.

Sales of Bud Light fell by 26.1% for the week that ended on July 15 — which is slightly worse than the 23.6% drop that is suffered over the Fourth of July holiday period, according to data from NielsenIQ and Bump Williams Consulting.

Modelo has been outselling Bud Light at retail stores since May, and its market share has grown to 8.1% year-to-date compared with Bud Light’s 8.5%.

Elsewhere, rival brands Yuengling Lager, Coors Light and Miller Lite are seeing even greater sales surges — up 25%, 21.6% and 16.9%, respectively.

While Modelo and Yuengling are the preferred alternatives at retail outlets, Miller Lite and Coors Light are the beers that customers are ordering at restaurants and bars.

“Our on-premise ordering data shows that domestic beer brands are reaping the most benefits from the Bud Light fallout,” Layne Cox, the chief marketing officer at Union said.

“Modelo may have unseated Bud Light at retail, but at high-volume bars and restaurants it’s a different story.”

Union also broke down the decline in sales of Bud Light along geographic lines.

The firm found that the brand suffered its largest negative impact in North and South Carolina, where is sales share dipped 6.9% to just 12.5%.

Miller Lite saw its sales share soar to 16.4%.

24 July, 2023