Recent News
Heineken USA Up Slightly For Qtr; Lagunitas Down Mid-Singles; Heineken Even Globally
This has to be a welcome start to 2021 for Heineken USA. “In the USA, beer volume increased by a low-single digit” in Q1, global Heineken reported this morn. Heineken franchise grew mid-single digits in US, “driven by growth in Heineken Original and double digit growth of Heineken 0.0.” This positive start notable not just because HUSA has declined for last 5 yrs, but because many of its upcoming innovations just starting to kick in and it’s got easy comps in Q2. HUSA down high teens in Q2 2020, as it’s going against 2 mos when there was no beer production in Mexico (Apr-May). So it should be up in first half 2021. Heineken did ask distribs to take extra inventory at end of first qtr to make sure they have enuf as lotsa congestion at ports, likely to linger. Heineken also noted that it introduced AriZona SunRise Hard Seltzer in Q1 2021, but it’s not yet making much impact. Meanwhile, Heineken’s US craft-arm Lagunitas continued to decline mid-single digits, “impacted by on-trade closures at the start of the year.”
Beer volume “stable” organically on a global basis, i.e. flat, Heineken reported, with Heineken franchise up 12%, including double-digit growth in more than 40 countries. “We had a solid start to the year,” said ceo Dolf van den Brink, “despite facing severe restrictions across many markets and the closure of the on-trade in Europe due to the pandemic.” Heineken got “strong growth” in Africa, Middle-East & Eastern Europe and Asia Pacific, Dolf added, and “modest growth” in the Americas. Heineken “overall much stronger than consensus expected,” said Bernstein’s Trevor Stirling, about 5% better than consensus, tho “still tough in Europe.”
Apr 21, 2021; INSIGHTS Express, Vol 23, No 84
Cans Climbed to 2/3 of Total 2020 Shipments as Draft Dropped 9.3 Mil Bbls, 44%; Bottles Broken?
Draft held 10-11 share of total US beer shipments each yr 2011-2019, but it took a Covid-induced nosedive to less than 6 share last yr. Total draft volume fell 9.3 mil bbls, 43.7% to less than 12 mil bbls in 2020, Beer Inst reported. Domestic draft down similar 42.9%, a loss of almost 8 mil bbls. Import draft cut in half. But that volume redirected to bottles and cans at expected rates. Over 60% of import volume still bottled, tho cans consistently gained ground over last decade. Import cans +4.4% last yr while import bottles +4.2%.
Main attraction here continues to be growth of domestic cans. Up 11.4%, 12.7 mil bbls in 2020. So as domestic draft dropped 7.9 mil bbls and bottles fell almost 3.6 mil bbls, cans picked all that up and then some. Cans got real close to 3/4 of domestic volume last yr, +7.1 share in 2020 alone to 74.2. Cans under 58 share of domestic volume a decade ago. Most of that share shifted from domestic bottles, which shed 10 share 2010-2019. But half of that happened in just last couple yrs as can-centric hard seltzers surged. So even if draft improves in 2021, bottles could have tuffer time bouncing back. In toto, cans neared 2/3 of total biz, +10.7% and 6.1 share to 66.5, while bottles fell 4.4%, slipped to 27.7 share.
Apr 19, 2021; INSIGHTS Express, Vol 23, No 82