Big Beer Blues – Light Beers Lose Their Luster

beer, Big Beer Blues – Light Beers Lose Their LusterIt’s tough for aging rock stars to remain vital, to see the arenas they used to sellout, only half full. And the same can be said for once dominant beer names, watching their once-unassailable sales decline…and Light Beer we’re looking at you!

Last week MillerCoors reported their ‘third quarter and year-to-date’ results, and while their sales increased 1.2 percent in the US, their flagship Premium light beer brands (Coors Light and Miller Lite) continued to struggle.

Back in their glory days light beers were the toast of the industry. They were unwaveringly dependable and generated huge profits for global beer conglomerates like AB InBev and Miller Coors. But that growth peaked almost a decade ago and their decline has been accelerating since then.

Don’t get us wrong, Big Beer’s light beer segment still puts up impressive numbers …the kind of sales and volume numbers that any craft brewery would love to have…Bud Light remains the nation’s bestselling beer by far, and Coors Light is at #2 and Miller Lite at #3.

beer, Big Beer Blues – Light Beers Lose Their LusterBut all three of those brands are seeing their market share eroding, and when they’re your sales leaders (Miller Lite and Coors Light represent 57% of MillerCoors entire volume!), it’s got to be troubling for the company (and then some).

And given that the vast majority of light beer is sold in the United States, this isan American problem, and one that’s got to be keeping those brewing multinationals, awake at night.

In fact, MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch InBev’s combined shipments to wholesalers are down almost 26 million barrels in since 2008, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights, a respected industry voice.

It’s enough to make you want to drink…just not light beer.

And even craft beer purists have to acknowledge that these brands aren’t without their qualities.

After all, Miller Lite took home the gold medal at the 2015 World Beer Cup in the light lager category, and gold at the 2014 Great American Beer Festival. And a silver went to Coors Light in that same competition.beer, Big Beer Blues – Light Beers Lose Their Luster

The good news for MillerCoors, no doubt reeling from their light beers’ quickening declines, is that at least they’re doing better than AB InBev’s Bud Light, whose sales were down almost 5.7% for that same period according to Nielsen data reported by the Tribune.

And in light of the facts that people are drinking less beer in general, that millennials are currently showing more interest in wine and spirits, and that even the craft beer biz is slowing, you know that the light beer segment’s losing its luster, is becoming a nightmare for the world’s two biggest brewing companies.

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