

| FLASH NEWS |

Corona Stops Production Production of Corona beer is being temporarily suspended in Mexico because of the coronavirus pandemic. Grupo Modelo, the company that makes the beer,is halting production and marketing because the Mexican government has shuttered them as a non-essential business. The company is owned by Anheuser-Busch Inbev. Constellation Brands handles the distribution and import of Grupo Modelo's beers in the United States. They said that the brand has "ample supply to meet consumer demand" and doesn't expect shortages in the near term. Corona's coincidental name with the virus hasn't dented sales. Constellation said sales of its beer brands grew 8.9% for the first three months of this year, with Modelo and Corona being its top sellers. Sales accelerated in the first three weeks of March, with its beers growing 24% compared to a year ago. Corona Hard Seltzer, which launched in early March, is also off to a "strong start,". .Beer and other alcohol are rising in sales this month as Americans are being forced to hunker down in light of the coronavirus. Sales numbers show beer sales rose 34% since isolation mandates begain. |
| From Beer To Soup Craft beer and spirit-makers in some of the communities most severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic are doing more than just producing hand sanitizer for their patrons. “We sell beer from Massachusetts down to Florida with a few holes in between,” said Scott Vaccaro, founder of Captain Lawrence Brewing (NY)., which has been around since 2005. As a result of the current crisis, he said, “we've seen wholesale orders either completely cut to zero, by the third, half, down to a fraction.” In response Vaccaro is cooking 300-gallon batches of chicken soup (40 whole chickens at a time) in w his smaller brew house. Now, that equipment is being used to support a local charity that aims to donate one million gallons of soup to local food industry workers now out of a job. “It’s the food service, it’s the restaurateurs that sell it for us, so we’ve got to take care of our people too,” he said, Even though his own business “went from thriving to surviving pretty quick.” He hopes to crank out as much as 600 gallons of soup per day.“To keep the lights on,” Vaccaro said Captain Lawrence is continuing curb-side, no-contact pickup of their beverages, family-style meals and pizza kits. |
| May 2020 |
| QUICK HITS Six of the 10 largest-selling craft beer companies in the USA have breweries in California, according to a new annual Top 50 list released by the Brewers Association. Sierra Nevada is the best-selling California craft brewery, ranking No. 3 among all craft breweries in the country. Stone Brewing ranks No. 9 nationally, Others in the Top 10 — New Belgium, Duvel Moortgat, Gambrinusy — have California breweries, as well as breweries in other states. ------------------ Pennsylvania's D.G. Yuengling and Son ranks as the nation's No. 1 craft beer company in sales volume, and No. 2 is Massachusetts-based Boston Beer, the company that brews Samuel Adams. ---------------------- With hundreds of Army soldiers returning to Fort Bragg from deployments have found themselves quarantined for two weeks in an effort to fight the spread of coronavirus. To ease things Dirtbag Brewery (North Carolina) has donated 900 free cans of Homecoming Pilsner to the approximately 850 troops in quarantine. .--------------- The four highest rated low calorie lagers according to IBI are:1.Budweiser Select (2.4% ABV): 55 calories; 2. Molson Ultra (3% ABV): 70 calories. 3. Moosehead Cracked Canoe (3.5% ABV): 90 calories. 4. Sleeman Light (4% ABV): 90 calories |





| Fight Fear With Beer Amid the growing coronavirus pandemic, Americans are fighting fear with beer. A trip to your favorite tap room isn’t in the offing.so to help customers make up for some of the fun they’re missing from prohibited barroom gatherings and to give a boost to flagging business new make-shift drive-thrus are popping up everywhere. So, it's fair to say breweries are finding out when one door closes another opens though in this case it's a car door. Most breweries ask customers to order in advance, either by phone or online, so it will be ready when they arrive. Drinkers must present a valid ID and no samples or tasters are offered while on site . It can get a bit complicated but its worth it to get beer. ----------------------------- Corona Ad Offends The president and CEO of Corona beer’s U.S. owner has defended the brand’s sales and reputation following backlash on social media for a Corona Hard Seltzer ad amid the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. The Grupo Modelo beer brand was criticized on Twitter for describing its new seltzer as “coming ashore soon” in an ad posted to the social media platform by Corona’s official U.S. account. In an image included in the now-deleted tweet, four cans of the hard seltzer were positioned on a sandy beach before the ocean, Ad Age reports. Some Twitter users blasted the pitch as in “bad timing” and “extremely poor taste” amid the spread of COVID-19, which was first detected in China. |