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A popular narrative over the last two years has been some version of “less, but better.” However, that phrase can mean many things.
Last year, as hard seltzer reached cultural zeitgeist, people pointed to the 100-calorie ubiquitousness of the category as proof American drinkers were increasingly concerned with beverage alcohol and their waistlines. Or, the “less” could mean less alcohol overall and the perceived rise of non-alcoholic beer, which while not untrue, runaway success has largely been a media-driven plotline.
Here’s how you should think of “less, but better” going into 2021: As a call to action for premiumization of the entire alcohol beverage space.
This has been the long game of a company like Constellation Brands, which has shed lower cost wine and spirits brands in recent years for high-margin, higher-growth “power brands.” The most recent example is the sale of about 30 brands that retail for $11 or less to E.J. Gallo, giving the company more bandwidth to focus on higher-price products.
If you need an excuse to think about how this relates to beer, look no further to what happened from 1999-2018, with “Premium” category brands (craft, import, Michelob Ultra, etc.) taking up more share as total drinking volumes declined. Sign up to read more.
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Words by Bryan Roth