Wine sales growth is driven by DTC (VWE)
Domestic wine sales increased 11% in the 12 months ended October. Wine continues to be led by the DTC channel. DTC shipments increased 14% to $601M with volumes of 973,000 9L cases over the same period, according to Sovos ShipCompliant. The average bottle price increased 13% to $51.43. Off-premise wine sales in the year ended October 9 fell 2% to $12.8B, according to NielsenIQ. CGA Strategy reported that on-premise sales for the year ended September 11 decreased 3% YOY to $11.6B. Total wine sales in the U.S. increased 17% to $78.5B. According to bw166 domestic wine, sales were $52.5B.
Thanksgiving Eve beer sales (BUD)
According to BeerBoard, a technology company that helps manage over $1B in draft beer sales, the night before Thanksgiving returned to one of the largest on-premise nights of the year. On-premise volumes were up 79.7% compared to the prior Thanksgiving Eve. Compared to 2019’s Thanksgiving Eve, volumes were up 8.4%. Compared to a regular Wednesday, the night was up 69.2%, re-establishing the event as the best Wednesday of the year. The top beer brands poured were light beers: Bud Light, Michelob Ultra, Miller Lite, and Coors Light, followed by Modelo Especial at #5.
Rolling Stone hit piece (K)
Rolling Stone published an article yesterday detailing the union strike at Kellogg from the union’s viewpoint. The article contrasts the CEO’s compensation to the workers’ conditions: “[CEO Steve Cahillane] brings in nearly $12 million a year in compensation, nearly 280 times the company average. The workers? They’ve time-traveled to William Blake’s dark-satanic-mills era of factory work, where a purposely understaffed labor force endures, according to union workers, 72- to 84 hour work weeks – not a typo – that includes mandated overtime….” The article does not get better from there outlining Kellogg’s move to hire permanent replacement workers, which will be ruled upon by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Kellogg’s decision to cut off healthcare benefits during the strike (a step John Deere did not take), and revising the two-tier compensation in bad faith. The article does a good job portraying Kellogg as the party that will have to accede more in the negotiations.
