Big Beer Facing ‘Brutal’ Spring Sales Slump
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Blame it on the rain. Or higher payroll tax rates. Or gas prices. Or the continued shift to craft beer and liquor. Whatever the cause, it has been a spring to forget for big beer brands, which after showing signs of life last year are slumping through a brutal 2013 so far.
The latest bad news came from Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, which on Tuesday reported a 4.1% drop in sales to U.S. retailers for the first quarter ending in March. Sales for MillerCoors brands, meanwhile, dropped 3.3% in the quarter, parent company SABMiller recently reported, while Heineken USA sales were down by low-single digits. The only big beer marketer reporting gains was Corona-seller Crown Imports, but the importer’s sales were only up slightly, Beer Marketer’s Insights recently reported.
April doesn’t seem to be going much better. The beer business is down 2.8% for the four weeks through April 13, Beer Marketer’s insights reported last week, citing Nielsen. Miller Lite was down by 8.8% in the period, while Bud Light sank by 6%. Budweiser plummeted by 7.7%, Beer Marketer’s reported. Even Coors Light — which has been growing consistently in recent years — declined by 1.8%.
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