Dear Client: In a surprise move, Anheuser-Busch’s Vice President of Beyond Beer, Randy Ornstein, notified wholesaler partners yesterday that his time at A-B has come to an end. Randy, who began his career at A-B in 2005 as the brewer’s category space manager for Wal-Mart, was named the VP of A-B’s Beyond Beer division less than a year ago. The email, which was sent from Randy’s personal address, did not specify why he was departing the company, but did say that yesterday (June 4) would be his last day at A-B. “While my time at A-B is done for now, expect to see great things from me in the...

Dear Client: Late this summer, Natural Light hopes to lay a big turd in White Claw’s punch bowl. Having launched Strawberry Lemonade Naturdays — which A-B says is among the top beer innovations this year — value brand Natural Light is leveraging yet another extension. Natural Light Seltzer. Yes, this time, it’s a seltzer. A seltzer going directly after White Claw, with just two flavors, in a new space that theoretically makes sense: “Better Value.” They plan to price at a “75-90 national average index vs. seltzer market leader.” But one distributor told BBD that 24 packs will go for $13.99....

Dear Client: Yesterday evening, several outlets reported comments from president Trump that he plans to levy a 5% tariff on imported goods from Mexico starting June 10. It’s punitive: The New York Times reported Trump’s intent to “gradually increase” the tax “until the flow of undocumented immigrants across the border stopped.” Apparently, unless that is curtailed, CNN added The White House’s intention to increase the tariff increment by 5% each month “until it reaches 25% in October.” Naturally, some beer stocks fell meaningfully after the news. As of press time, Corona and Modelo importer...

Dear Client: Since Mike’s Hard Lemonade was founded on April Fool’s Day in 1999 by Anthony von Mandl, it has been an amazing growth machine. However, while it’s had its starts and stops over the last 20 years, Mike’s really started to grow in earnest seven years ago under the leadership of Phil Rosse, and posted 29% depletions and sales growth for 2018, double 2017’s +15% trend. And while every brand in their portfolio is growing, the standout is obviously White Claw, so we are focusing this piece on that breakout brand. White Claw is growing at a 300%+ run rate and accelerating, and holds...