AB InBev Bashing Craft?

I'd agree its a minority who probably know. And by using "domestic" the Bud folks reduce the chances of someone making a stink and raising awareness of the chain of ownership.

 

I'm not sure what opinions have to do with it. There was *data* that showed that the beer segment--ALL beer--was declining in market share relative to wine and spirits.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...20131_1_liquor-sales-alcohol-sales-david-ozgo

Craft is growing, and as such is taking some of the market share from BMC, but that is only part of the picture.

 

That data was shared by just about everyone. You may want to ponder on the fact that it's 4 years old. And opinions do matter. At least anecdotes do. I'm not going to do the work for you, but you can find post after post about wine makers and retailers concerned about losing women to craft, because it's happening. Women make up >40% of craft drinkers now. Correlation is not causation, my friend. There have been more recent data that, when juxtaposed to Bud's dip visuals, seem to support that craft growth is mainly responsible for tearing into macro market share - if the correlation logic is what we're agreeing on. Wine demand is steady, if not in decline, depending on which charts you look at. And it really murkies the investigation when you lump wine in the same group with liquor. Only remotely the same demographic.

 

Source?

 

Umm.
I tapped in Wine Sales 2014 and wine is very relevant to the charts you propose we use here in discussing declining sales of BMC. It seems disingenuous, or just lazy to not want to include wine, or its perceived demographic of oenophiles because as you can see for US sales of wine.

"Total U.S. wine sales were up 3 percent in volume and 5 percent in value over 2012, according to the Californian wine industry representative body The Wine Institute.
"Americans purchased a record 3.38 billion liters of wine in 2013, which is almost double the volume bought in 1993."

.... and also this last years numbers indicate furthur inroads and developments in wines continued relevance and presence on the table for many drinkers.


Stats at a Glance

• California wine sales in the U.S. grew 6.7% in value and 4.4% in volume in 2014
• Estimated retail value of 2014 California wine sales in the U.S. was $24.6 billion
• Total California wine sales (in U.S. and exports) grew 3.7 percent in volume
• 2014 represents the 22nd consecutive year of growth for all wine sales in the U.S.
• The U.S. has been the world’s largest wine market since 2010

value-priced wines made up 75% of California table wine volume in 2014 while premium wines accounted for 25% of wine volume but almost half (47%) of winery revenues.

'With beverage alcohol production permits exploding by 68% in six years to 14,700 in the U.S., there is enormous competition in the market with a large number of wine, beer and spirits offerings that continue to squeeze distribution channels. Wineries are making direct-to-consumer sales, now legal in 42 states and the District of Columbia, through tasting rooms, wine clubs, online marketing and other direct sales channels, reaching consumers through the Internet, mobile apps and social media. Premium keg wines have also been a positive development for wine, providing draft wine at restaurants and other on-premise outlets,”

According to the Wine Institute who I pulled that from. That's an overall sales of $37.6 billion for last year. i.e. this is relevant, and we cannot pretend it does not exist. It provides a clearer picture. The drinker has plenty more options for something that is not big and macro and these boutique, craft, micro, nano etc. options are all actively pulling numbers away from what is big and macro. What's cool for us as brewers is that they all have barrels they will need to get rid of, and many brewers enjoy wine and spirits as much as they enjoy beer.

 

Furthermore, breaking down some of the available data by demographic preferences suggests that large numbers of 20 somethings are opting for wine over beer and that boomers, as they have more disposable income with kids out of college, are showing a shift away from beer towards things like quality Bourbons and Malt Whisky and fine wines.

 

This topic relates to a thread I did awhile back asking how craft beer has sprung up in parts of the country that have typically been BMC drinkers. I do not think I said it the right way to get the responses I was seeking.

For instance:

During the winter season, I will have many folks from Minnesota. Typically these people will drive a 60,000 dollar truck, 13,500 dollar snowmobile, spend the gas to get here, spend an insane amount on liquor, but hesitate to indulge in a craft beer. So..were craft beer folks always in Minnesota waiting for a great brewery to pop up or did said brewery attract that much attention to warrant visiting the brewery from even outside the state? It seems I have the luck of seeing craft breweries popping up AFTER I left the place I lived. Either I was not aware of good beer then, or it just has changed that much.

 

Hmmm, you leave, new breweries pop up. Coincidence...??? :-)

 

What is the price range of value-priced wines?

 

That would be something. But I do consider myself a mover and shaker( I was in 10 newspapers in 2013!! ) but I guess it just did not make any moves then lol

 

15 and under.
After reading Last Opium Den with "A true wine connoisseur, if there were such a thing, would taste the pesticide and manure above all else: he would be not a goûteur de vin but rather a goûteur de merde. But there is no true connoisseurship of wine outside of those who know that the true soul of wine, l’âme du vin, is vinegar. It is in sipping straight those rare aged vinegars designated da bere that one truly tastes wonders: the real thing, an ichor far beyond the jive-juice of that industry of adjectives and pretense which was once the artless and noble drink of artless and noble peasants—peasants nobler and of greater connoissance than the moneyed suckers of today who have been conned into believing that the tasting of wine calls for words other than “good,” “bad,” or “just shut up and drink.”"
I'll always look at the $10 tables for my wine.

 

I knew I had read something about beechwood chips being officially deemed legal for use in clearing beer in Bavaria at one point or another in the 19th century, but I had lost track of the direct reference. I finally came across it once more in a book detailing the laws of Bavaria from 1839. On page 949 it says:

"By command of his majesty the king." "the common use (in Bamberg and other towns) of well-brewed beechwood shavings for clarifying beer is also henceforth allowed, since the reports submitted by the royal academy of science cannot present a theoretical basis against this method of clarification, and since the experiments which have been carried out have established, that the beechwood shavings in question can be used for this purpose with the best of results.

Munich April 9, 1837"

You also find plenty of references to using beechwood, or hazelnut shavings in various Bavarian brewing books throughout the 19th century. Just thought I would add to the historical background of using such shavings/chips and its historical place in Bavarian brewing (before I lose track of the excerpt again).

 

It's clear to me by those commercials that they are trying to win over 20 somethings like myself. But its not really going to work, we read into these message. We know their dumb marketing strategy. And if I want a light beer to drink on the beach i'll gladly pay for Prima Pils, and thats about it.

 

Interesting news regarding all this: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/22/o...some-brewers-worry-about-the-future.html?_r=0

 

Thanks for posting.

 

The bottom line to me is if the public demands craft beer the distributors will have to give them what they want. The big boys may slow the inevitable but they cannot turn the tide. When their distributors start losing market share they will be in the same boat with two problems now.

 

While that may be true in the big picture, a lot of small and/or startup brewers can be hurt or driven out of business waiting on the inevitable.

 

That's a nice bit of spin and fear mongering. Claiming they don't distribute to the west coast due to high shipping costs is BS, because they're available in Vancouver BC, which has equally high shipping cost AND import taxes. Claiming they don't distribute here because of the lack of independent distributors or because the "big guys" wouldn't focus on them is also bullshit.

Ignoring the rest of the west coast and just looking at Portland, there are at least 4 independent distributors that I know of who would be happy to bring on Brooklyn. Also, the local AB house (which is independently owned) has one of the strongest craft portfolios in the state, so they're obviously not opposed to stocking non-AB products. Similarly, the local, independently owned MillerCoors house (which covers WA, OR, and most of northern CA) has a huge portfolio of prominent craft brands like Lagunitas, Deschutes, Stone, Almanac, New Belgium, Sierra Nevada, etc. I'm sure they would also be more than happy to carry Brooklyn.

 

The macros are starting to feel the craft burn on their bottom line. Adjunct lagers are their cash machine and they are attempting to defend that market by bashing craft (real men drink Bud). At the same time, they see that American tastes are shifting towards craft, so they are getting their exposure via acquisitions. In short, they are trying to slow the shift to craft until they are ready to be the major players in it. We will see more acquisitions and "branded" entries (Shock Top, Blue Moon) into the market.

 

The Bud commercials are ridiculous and hypocritical on so many levels and they are a massive waste of marketing dollars (IMO). I like what Blue Moon is doing with their commercials by embracing the change in the times. Unless Bud's new target market is really bitter old men, who hate change and anything other than what they've been drinking for the past 50 years, I don't think it's a good game plan. They'd be better off just sticking with commercials featuring sports, babes, cars, etc. in them.