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

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 »

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 »