UK: Budweiser overtakes Fosters as Britains second-biggest beer brand
Budweiser has overtaken Fosters to become Britains second-biggest beer brand, The Grocer reported on June 21.
Supermarket value sales of the AB InBev brand (not including its spin-off Bud Light or its alcohol-free Prohibition Brew) have surged by £17.5 mln to £381.7 mln.
Including Bud Light, which has pulled in £30.5 mln in extra sales this year, and Prohibition, this figure rises to an eye-watering £418.4 mln - a 13.3% rise year on year. In fact, Bud Light was the best-performing lager SKU in the supermarkets this year [Nielsen 52 w/e 21 April 2018].
Fosters, meanwhile, has had 11% of its value wiped away, falling to £354.2 mln. Its standard lager has lost £31.8 mln (8.4%) while its Gold variant has lost £11.4 mln, more than two thirds (68.3%) of its value.
Budweisers growth had been phenomenal, said the brands UK marketing manager Rowan Chidgey. Its performance has been driven by its affiliation to key sporting events and cultural moments this year.
Toby Lancaster, category and shopper marketing director at Fosters owner Heineken UK, said Heineken expected a much stronger performance from the brand over the coming year, with plans to introduce new on-pack promotions offering shoppers the chance to win prizes.
Fosters would also be partnering with a leading music app to build further interaction with consumers, he added.
Fosters was one of around 30 Heineken brands to suffer mass delists in Tesco last year amid rumours of a pricing dispute.
In April Tesco added a slew of Heinekens products back to its shelves but the number of Fosters SKUs available in the super is only three.
This switch in ranking means AB InBev now owns Britains two biggest supermarket beer brands - Stella Artois remained on top with £523.8 mln in value sales.
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