LOS ANGELES (AP).- After more than two decades as the best-selling beer in the United States, Bud Light has fallen to second place.
Mexican lager Modelo Especial surpassed Bud Light in US retail sales for the month ending June 3, according to Nielsen data analyzed by Bump Williams Consulting.
Modelo controlled 8.4 percent of the sales in food stores, convenience stores, and liquor stores; Bud Light fell to 7.3 percent.
Bud Light sales began slumping in early April, when critics were upset that the brewery sent a commemorative can to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney and vowed to boycott the brand. Bud Light has also faced disapproval from Mulvaney’s supporters, who think the company didn’t do enough to support her.
Dave Williams, vice president of analytics and insight at Bump Williams, said Bud Light has been the best-selling beer in the United States since 2001, and could still hold onto its crown this year. He highlighted that Bud Light’s market share so far this year is 9% and still exceeds Modelo’s 8%. Also, Bud Light sales volume continues to be higher.
But Modelo seems to have an advantage, as its dollar sales increase by double-digit percentages each week. Last month it launched a new light beer, Modelo Oro, which is also attracting interest in the brand.
The retail figures do not include sales at bars and restaurants, which are more difficult to monitor, and Bud Light far outpaced Modelo in such stores until before April. But David Steinman, vice president and executive editor of Beer Marketer’s Insights, said that Modelo sales at bars and restaurants have been rising rapidly, and Bud Light sales at bars and restaurants are believed to have taken a much harder hit than in food stores.
Bud Light retail sales in the United States fell 24 percent in the week ending June 3, while Modelo Especial rose 12 percent, according to Dave Williams.
Scott Scanlon, an executive vice president at consulting firm Circana that focuses on the alcohol market, said imports of beers like Modelo and Corona from Mexico have been the biggest bright spot in a U.S. beer market that has been stagnant for years.
When Modelo entered the US market in the 1990s, it advertised primarily to Hispanic consumers, Scanlon said. It started its advertising campaign in English in 2015 and has since expanded its consumer base significantly. It’s particularly popular with young people, who prefer its stronger flavor, Scanlon added.
Scanlon said Modelo is already the best-selling brand in markets like Los Angeles and Chicago, but it could still have plenty of room for growth on the East Coast.
“Modelo was going to become the number one beer brand. It was fate, because the growth numbers that we are seeing and have been seeing are incredible,” Scanlon said. “It was only a matter of time”.
Grupo Modelo, the Mexican brewer, is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the same parent company of Bud Light. Constellation Brands, a Rochester, New York-based company, has had the license to sell Modelo in the United States since 2013 as part of a deal with antitrust regulators after InBev bought Grupo Modelo.
