🍺 BEER
For big craft breweries, it’s any c-store in a storm. The humble convenience store is becoming big business for distributed craft breweries of a certain size hunting for growth in a flat-to-down market. Year-to-date the segment’s sales are negative in every off-premise channel except c-stores, where they’re up 5% in dollars year-to-date on the back of strong demand for single-serve, high-ABV juice bombs, like Voodoo Ranger’s market-shaping 19.2oz stovepipes. Call it TARP—Tallboy-Assisted Revenue Program.1 Or don’t, and just read my column this week at VinePair instead.
Boston Beer Co. still hasn’t figured out what to do with Truly. In its Q3 earnings call this past week, the firm revised its financial guidance slightly down, which may have something to do with the fact that its flailing hard seltzer brand is down over 28% in dollar sales year-to-date. Guess that brand refresh didn’t take.
