E-Malt.com News article: USA: Modelo Especial, Stella Artois are fastest growing beer brands in the USA

While beer consumption in the United States fell during the beginning of the recession and again at the end of 2013, it is on the rise again and beer remains the most popular alcoholic beverage in the U.S. Americans may continue to choose beer over other types of alcoholic beverages, although the brand of beer they will choose is less predictable. Consumer preferences regularly change in response to new ad campaigns, price, or for no detectable reason, USA Today reported on December 17.

Sales of once unassailable beers such as Budweiser and Miller High Life have declined by more than 25% from 2010 through 2015. Meanwhile, sales of such beers as Modelo Especial and Stella Artois — once more marginal brands in the United States — have more than doubled. Based on five-year increases in U.S. sales, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 10 fastest growing beers in America.

Premium brands such as Michelob Ultra and Coors Banquet, as well as imports, especially from Mexico, dominate the list of beer brands with increasing shipments. In an interview with 24/7 Wall St., Eric Shepard, executive editor with industry news organization Beer Marketer’s Insights, said, “There has been significant trade up in the U.S. beer industry.” Drinkers have increasingly chosen craft beers, higher-priced premium brands, wine, or spirits over the traditionally dominant mainstream domestic beer brands.

“Consumers trade up for various reasons, whether it’s something that they perceive as being more prestigious, more flavorful, [or] whatever the image issues may be,” Shepard said.

Despite their popularity, many of the nation’s fastest growing beer brands would be difficult to distinguish from one another in a blind taste test. Beer critics also generally rate these brands very poorly. As a result, advertising in the mainstream beer industry is essential. A beer like Stella Artois can go from being associated with binge-drinkers and abusive alcoholics (as it was in the early 2000s) to a high-end, classy beverage — all from advertising and despite an unchanging formula.

Of the 10 fastest growing beers in America, four are Mexican imports. Shepard noted changing U.S. demographics as one factor that could explain Mexican beers’ massive growth. Hispanics made up 17.3% of the U.S. population in 2014, much more than their 3.5% share in 1960.

To identify the 10 fastest growing beer brands in America, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed shipment volumes provided by Beer Marketer’s Insights for all brands with more than 1 million barrels shipped in either 2010 or 2015. For reference, approximately 200 million barrels of beer are shipped to the United States in a given year. There are 31 gallons in a barrel, or 13.8 cases of 24 12-ounce bottles each.

These are America’s fastest growing beer brands.

1. Modelo Especial
> Sales change (2010-2015): 135.3%
> Barrels shipped in 2015: 5.4 million
> Owner: Constellation Brands, inc.

Mexican beer Modelo Especial had a meteoric growth in the last five years. Eric Shepard suggested the growth may be largely due to beer consumption among the growing U.S. Hispanic population. Hispanics made up 17.3% of the population in 2014, much more than their 3.5% share of the population in 1960. Anheuser-Busch InBev, which distributes Modelo outside the U.S. market, controls well over half of the beer market in Mexico. In the United States., the majority of TV ads for Modelo Especial have been in Spanish only.

Constellation Brands announced recently its plans to dial up its advertising of Modelo Especial. As part of the company’s plan, the Mexican import was recently named exclusive import beer sponsor of the Brooklyn Nets.

2. Stella Artois
> Sales change (2010-2015): 123.7%
> Barrels shipped in 2015: 2.1 million
> Owner: Anheuser-Busch InBev

Stella Artois is one of the oldest brands in the world, first appearing in 1336. Today, Stella Artois is the best selling beer imported from Belgium and one of the fastest-growing beers sold in the United States. AB InBev shipped 2.1 million barrels of the brew to U.S. locations last year, well more than double the 2010 shipment volume. As a light lager, Stella Artois is not materially different from many other mass produced beers. In the 2000s, due partially to its relatively high alcohol content and low price, Stella Artois became popular among binge-drinkers and earned the nickname “wife beater.” The brand has reportedly managed to regain its image as a relatively high-end beer.

According to the latest financial report from parent company Anheuser-Busch Inbev, Stella Artois global revenues grew by 12.5% in 2015.

3. Dos Equis
> Sales change (2010-2015): 94.9%
> Barrels shipped in 2015: 1.9 million
> Owner: Heineken

Numerous factors contribute to the successes or failures of massively produced beers in the United States, including taste, price, and — especially in the case of Dos Equis — advertising. The company’s successful “The Most Interesting Man in the World” ad campaign certainly starts to explain Dos Equis’ growth. Launched in 2009, the campaign helped increase sales of the Mexican import brew during the recession, a time of declining beer sales and lower spending overall. Heineken, one of the world’s largest beer brewers, is Dos Equis’ parent company. The European brewer’s share price has dipped since the middle of 2016 but otherwise has steadily increased since 2012.

4. Michelob Ultra
> Sales change (2010-2015): 54.8%
> Barrels shipped in 2015: 5.2 million
> Owner: Anheuser-Busch InBev

Michelob Ultra is bucking the trend of sales decline among major domestic beer brands. While shipments of industry titans’ beers like Budweiser, Bud Light, and Coors Light have declined dramatically in the last half decade, Michelob Ultra is gaining popularity faster than nearly any other brew. Americans consumed 5.2 million barrels of Michelob Ultra last year, a 54.8% increase from five years prior.

What sets Michelob Ultra apart may be marketing. Introduced to beer drinkers in 2002, Michelob Ultra initially marketed itself as a beer for the diet conscious drinker, containing far fewer carbs than the typical beer. Now the brand’s marketing has shifted focus from the dieter to the fitness fanatic. This year, AB InBev paid between $4.6 million and $5 million for a 30 second Super Bowl spot to run an ad that more closely resembled a sports drink ad than a beer commercial.




18 December, 2016