Achieve the Fifth Loko before it’s too late
Plus: DABS, lol!
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🍺 BEER
China isn’t the answer to US craft brewers’ woes, but it could be part of it. This week at VinePair I wrote about the compelling-but-complicated potential of the Chinese export market for American craft brewers searching for new channels of growth amidst flagging domestic demand. The country currently comprises 6.2% of overall US exports of craft beer, roughly half its 1.4 billion citizens are over legal drinking age, and despite its current economic troubles, higher-end international beer sales are holding fairly steady thanks to the “affordable luxury” effect.
Diageo IS / IS NOT [choose one] selling Harp and Smithwick’s. On Tuesday, Axios Pro touted a scoop that the spiritus corporatum gigundus was looking to divest a bunch of non-Guinness brands, citing “sources familiar with the company.” Anonymous sourcing on marketing-moving news can be dicey, but it’s better than no sourcing whatsoever, which is what Just Drinks relied on to definitively rebut Axios’ item. The latter outlet ran a headline claiming “Diageo does not plan to offload beer assets,” that appears to be based entirely on a quote from the firm’s flack declining to comment on market speculation. That’s… not how this works?
Constellation Brands Friday news-dumped a Dick Harder update. Sort of? Tipster Ben O. pointed out that the firm published a press release at 5pm EST this past Friday announcing a raft of executive promotions/changes/etc. Buried in the announcement was a note that someone named Sandy Dominach would be assuming the role of “SVP, Beer Finance,” which isn’t precisely the way Tom McCorry’s title was phrased, but pretty damn close. Hmm! The investigation of Investigator Richard Harder continues.
