Industry up estimated 1.4 percent, says Beer Marketers Insights.Beer Marketers Insights Jan. 14 issue has a roundup of 2007 beer statistics. And it was, in BMIs words, another pretty good year for beer.Beer shipments increased by 1.4 percent, a solid encore to the 2-plus percent increase in 2006, BMI reported.Given that spirits growth slipped to the 2 percent to 2.5 percent range, the growth gap between beer and spirits narrowed considerably.Here are some highlights of BMIs report:1. Shipments for the three leading domestic brewers increased by 5 million barrels, or more than a full share point. This was due to a combination of new brands and improved trends. A-B shipments increased by 2 percent (driven largely by new imports and crafts), BMI reports.  read more »

Industry up estimated 1.4 percent, says Beer Marketer???s Insights. Beer Marketer???s Insights??? Jan. 14 issue has a roundup of 2007 beer statistics. And it was, in BMI???s words, ???another pretty good year for beer.??? Beer shipments increased by 1.4 percent,..."Brew" Blog

Imports are a big part of the U.S. beer business -- and theyre going to get bigger.As recently as 2004, full-calorie mainstream domestic beers commanded more share in supermarkets than imports. Thats not the case now. Imports in 2007 represented more than 14 percent of supermarket beer sales, according to beer sales statistics from Nielsen. Mainstream full-cal domestics, meanwhile, accounted for just over 11 percent.That stat highlights how imports are an increasingly important part of the U.S. beer business. And that trend is only going to continue. The latest issue of Brew took an in-depth look at how imports have transformed -- and will continue to transform -- the U.S. beer business. From the issue:How big is imported beer?  read more »

Brew Blog's picks of news from the beer business and beyond. Advertising Age reports that Anheuser-Busch is slashing spending on radio advertising . A-B has aggressive roll-out plans for Budweiser American Ale, Beer Marketer's Insights reports. From the story in today's Beer Marketer's Insights Express (subscription required): "It targets 40% on-premise and 70% off-premise distribution by Jan 1, it said in letter to distribs. Bud Ale "will be supported with more than $28 million in media merchandising and sampling," including $18 mil in media. ... Why is AB going after this oppy? 'Double digit growth in craft, particularly ales,' sez AB." Crown Imports, the importer of Corona Extra and other Grupo Modelo brands, posted a 5 percent drop in operating profits as sales increased by 2 percent, Constellation Brands, a 50 percent owner of the venture, reported today . "The decrease in operating income was driven by the year-over-year timing of marketing activities and a fixed contractual cost increase for product purchases from Grupo Modelo," according to the earnings release. In a note, Morgan Stanley analyst William Pecoriello said: "We note that Corona sales weakened in May/June after double-digit growth in April and thus we remain concerned on Crown's ability to hit its mid-single-digit FY '09 growth goals." Heineken USA has sent distributors a memo asking them to load in more inventory, Beer Business Daily (subscription required) reports. From BBD: "They ask distribs 'for your attention and support in the areas of your short-term and medium term sales forecasts and resulting inventory levels......Over time, we have seen an increasing strain being placed on our supply chain; reflected in increased "rush orders", forecast accuracy levels below historical figures and an overall pressure on order lead-times.'" BBD also notes that August Busch IV has addressed A-B employee concerns about the InBev bid and A-B's proposed $1 billion on cost cuts. The note, as quoted by BBD, says the announcement last fall of MillerCoors -- and with it the creation of hundreds of millions in synergies -- "intensified" A-B's drive to reduce costs. From the BBD report: "What about forced layoffs beyond the early retirement?  read more »

Juggling cachet and ubiquity. Corona Extra and Heineken are far and away the biggest imports. Theyre so big, in fact, that the increasingly act like mainstream beers. They have big ad budgets, they have light extensions and theyre coming out with bigger pack sizes. Both brands still command a premium. But observers say balancing specialness and their mass appeal presents a challengeeven if its an enviable one. And its a challenge thats going to continue now that a new generation of upstart imports, such as Dos Equis and Stella Artois, are on the rise.  read more »

Is a generational change taking place?Are Corona Extra and Heineken now my fathers beer?Thats the provocative question raised by industry consultant Mike Mazzoni last week in an investor meeting covered by Beer Marketers Insights. From Fridays BMI Express:[Mazzoni] Notes imports up 1%, Corona down slightly, Heineken up slightly, while Heineken Premium Light, Stella, Modelo Especial, Corona Light and Dos Equis each up double digits. Wonders if this is "simply a changing of the guard." Calls Corona and Heineken (over 45% of segment) "mega-imports" and wonders if this is "generational change" where they have become "my father's beer." Notes that many other formerly top 10 imports continued down in 07, including Beck's, Foster's, St Pauli Girl, Amstel Light.  read more »

Advertising Age takes a look at promotions Diageo's Captain Morgan spiced rum and MillerCoors' Miller High Life are running that play off this year's presidential election. "Crown Imports is, for the first time in its history (even when it was..."Brew" Blog

Corona, Heineken families are flat. After a long stretch of flat or declining performance in supermarkets, imports are showing signs of growth again. No thanks, however, to the two megabrands -- Corona Extra and Heineken -- that have driven the groups growth for years. Import sales in supermarkets increased by 0.2 points during the four weeks ended April 19, according to beer sales statistics from Nielsen. That translates to a 30,000 case increase over the year-earlier period. During the four-week period, the Heineken franchise (Heineken and Heineken Premium Light) was up 1,000 cases, according to Nielsens beer market analysis. The Corona family was down 12,000 cases. So whered the growth come from?  read more »

New advertising, promotions on tap. Coming off its first down year in more than a decade and facing a new challenger from Anheuser-Busch, Corona Extra is gearing up for a critical Cinco de Mayo holiday.Brandweek has the details about Crown Imports efforts behind the brand, which include a new Cinco de Mayo TV commercial as well as radio support, countdown calendars in bars and nightclubs and themed online invitation templates on Evite.com.Corona is facing challenges as it heads into the holiday season. From Brandweek:Corona Extra shipments declined 0.8% last year after growing steadily since 1991, per Beer Marketer's Insights, West Nyack, N.Y. The slump continued into the first quarter where case salesin supermarkets, c-stores and drug storesdeclined 5.9% for the 52-weeks ended Feb.  read more »