The consumer trend towards cheaper alcohol during an economic downturn is being weathered – so far – by established brands, according to the CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev.
Speaking to Yahoo Finance on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week, Michel Doukeris acknowledged the challenging trading environment, noting, however, that the beer industry is less affected than others. “Different places globally are at different stages but I don’t think we’re too deep into a recession so far,” he told the channel. “It depends on the industry.”
Turning to the impact on consumers, Doukeris said: “You see consumers shifting across the globe but in beer, because we don’t have a lot of penetration of private-label, consumers change the places where they buy, they buy more on promotion, they buy different packs, but they don’t change their brand of choice.”
The observation came in the same month as Constellation Brands, which owns the US operations of AB InBev’s Corona, Modelo and Pacifico beer brands, reported a marked deceleration in its sales growth rate for the three months to the end of November. The 5% top-line increase in the quarter contrasted with Constellation’s +14% showing for the six months to the end of August.
AB InBev delivers its numbers for 2022 on 2 March.
The full interview with Yahoo Finance can be viewed here.
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