Bud Light took another tumble falling to the No. 3 selling beer in America, according to analysis of NielsenIQ data from Bump Williams, a consulting firm that shared the data with CSP on Thursday.
For the four weeks ended July 6, St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light reported 6.5% of beer U.S. dollar sales in stores, while the company's Michelob Ultra brand represented 7.3%. Constellation Brands, Los Angeles, Modelo Especial garnered 9.7%.
Constellation Brands’ portfolio continues to grow in sales at a solid pace, up 16% overall and up 38% for the Modelo brand from this spring versus a year ago, according to the majority of beer distributors surveyed in New York-based Goldman Sachs' Beverage Bytes survey. The survey represents about 170,000 retail locations or about 30% of the total U.S. outlets that sell alcohol.
The survey also examined the implications of the Bud Light controversy with a majority of distributors (67%) saying they are still not seeing trends improve. Last year, Bud Light faced boycotts after an Instagram post in April 2023 from Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer, with a customized Bud Light can to promote a contest.
Anheuser-Busch InBev, a Belgium-based company owns several other global brands besides Budweiser, including Michelob, maker of Michelob Ultra that has seen sales continue to climb. Anheuser-Busch InBev said its Michelob Ultra “Summer of Team USA” program will continue the brand’s “commercial momentum after recently reaching its all-time high market share earlier this year.”
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