5 out of 10 fastest growing U.S. brands are imported

Modelo Especial, Stella Artois and Dos Equis are the three fastest growing beer brands in the U.S. in the years 2010-2015 according to a study of 24/7 Wall St. with data derived from Beer Marketer’s Insights. Remarkably is the fact, that of the ten fastest growing beer brands in the U.S. five are imported brands. Even more remarkably:  four out of five are Mexican imports. This can be attributed to the growing Hispanic community, which makes up 17.3% of the U.S. population in 2014.

Also notably is the rise of Stella Artois, an imported brew from Belgium, that has undergone a major image shift from a perceived high alcohol content and low price binge-drinker beer to a high-end premium beer in the recent years.

The trend still goes towards imported and higher priced premium beers, that are often very similar in its product characteristics and taste.  Mainstream domestic beers such as Budweiser and Miller High Life have declined by more than 25% from 2010 through 2015. So far, craft beers are not shown in the list because only brands with one million gallons (1.2 m hl) and more are included.

Modelo Especial, a brand of Constellation Brands, shipped 5.4 million barrels (6.3 million hectoliters) in 2015 which was a stunning increase of 135% from 2010. Next comes Stella Artois, a brand of AB InBev with shipments of 2.1 million barrels ( 2.5 million hectoliters), which is 123.7% more than 5 years before. Dos Equis, a brand of Heineken, comes third with 1.9 million barrels (2.2 million hectoliters)  in 2015 or 94.4% more than 2010.

The following ranks are: 4. Michelob Ultra (AB InBev, 5.2 million barrel [6.1m hl], +54.8%), 5. Blue Moon (MillerCoors, 2.2 million barrels [2.6m hl], + 53.4%), 6. Bud Ice (AB InBev, 2.4 million barrels [2.8m hl], + 28.5%), 7. Coors Banquet (Molson Coors, 1.6 million barrels [1.9m hl], +23.1%),  8. Corona Light (Constellation Brands, 1.1 million barrels [1.3m hl], +19,6%), 9. Pabst Blue Ribbon (Blue Ribbon Intermediate Holdings, 2.6 million barrels [3.1m hl], +18.2%), Corona Extra (Constellation Brands, 8.4 million barrels [9.9m hl], +17.7%)

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