Anheuser-Busch turns to ‘bribing’ distributors in effort to keep Bud-Light on shelves

Anheuser-Busch’s emergency relief program for beer distributors has been extended by the brewer to keep Bud Light on store shelves after its disastrous “woke” advertising. with trans-TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney earlier this year. The measure certainly looks like a “bribe”.

The New York Post revealed while quoting a report from Knowledge of the beer seller that Anheuser-Busch has offered up to $150 million in relief to distributors since Mulvaney’s Bud Light TikTok video on April 1 sparked nationwide boycotts.

Some of the financial relief dealers have received are reimbursements for transportation and fuel surcharges, as well as an extra week to pay bills at the brewery.

“I imagine for those who have cash flow issues, this would help a little bit,” one dealer told The Post.

The report mentioned that the package of financial aid to distributors that began in June will be extended until next spring. This includes sales incentive payments.

NYPost explained that the “market share recovery incentives” come as beer and liquor stores prepare to “refresh shelf space in the spring as they look at the last 12 months of sales and determine which products are hot and deserve more space, and which ones will get more space.” waste space”.

Last month, former AB executive Anson Frericks warned that shelf space is “the biggest determinant of sales in a store,” and said there will be a “dramatic change” for Bud Light after the national boycott.

Dave Williams, vice president of analytics and insights at Bump Williams Consulting, said retailers look closely at sales numbers to determine which brands have the best shelf space.

“There’s explosive growth on one side and a sharp decline on the other,” Williams said, adding, “It has this ripple effect where if Bud Light loses shelf space, that could make it a long-term effort to recover. where they were if they’re ever able to do it in the first place.”

Several months ago, Deutsche Bank analyst Mitch Collett said Bud Light does it is expected to lose about 25% of its business.

The latest data from Citi Bank shows AB’s bleeding has continued in the past four weeks (professional subscribers can find the report at the usual place):

ABInBev’s beer volumes fell 15.5% over the past 4 weeks, notably worse than the market at -4.3%, as Bud Light’s social media campaign slump persists. Beer price/mix grew 3.0% and total dollar sales fell 13.0%, slowing from -10.9% last month. ABInBev’s total value share fell 489 bps and beer’s value share declined 534 bps. We estimate that Bud Light accounts for slightly more than 30% of group revenue in the US (about 8% of the group). Bud Light volumes fell 30.2% and Budweiser volumes fell 25.6%, compared to -29.9% and -25.3%, respectively, in the prior 4-week period.

They will never forget:

“ABInBev’s beer volumes fell 15.5% over the past 4 weeks, notably worse than the market at -4.3%, as Bud Light’s social media campaign slump persists. The beer price/mix grew 3.0% and total dollar sales fell 13.0% vs -10.9% last month” – Citi

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) October 20, 2023

Meanwhile, Mexican lager Special Model dethroned Bud Light as the best-selling beer in America, while some beer drinkers have focused on brewers operating in the shadow economy, such as “Ultra Right American Beer 100% Unawakened by Conservative Dad.”