USA: Modelo Especial holds position of America’s top-selling beer brand for two straight months

Modelo Especial, from Constellation Brands, has been America’s top-selling beer brand for two straight months — May and June, according to data from consulting firm Bump Williams cited by Reuters.

The data showed Modelo Especial had an 8.7% share of overall beer sales at retail stores during the last four weeks ending July 1. This comes after the beer dethroned Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Bud Light in May, which had been the most sold beer in 2022 and the early part of 2023.

Bud Light’s sales dipped following a public backlash from conservative groups due to a social media promotion involving Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer. The drop in sales had Bud Light trailing Modelo Especial with a 7% share of the overall beer sales. Bud Light and Budweiser sales experienced a substantial decline of 28% and 11.7% respectively year on year, while Modelo Especial’s sales increased by 8.5%.

The drop in sales due to conservative backlash was not exclusive to Bud Light. Other beer brands from AB InBev, such as Michelob Ultra and Natural Light, also experienced a decrease in sales. This fallout was noted by TD Cowen analyst Vivien Azer, who expressed the belief that the consumers shifting away from these brands were likely permanently lost to the company.

“The Bud Light and Budweiser share losses would persist through the year and we believe that the consumers who have opted to move away from those two brands are ultimately lost to the company,” they said.

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s CEO, Michel Doukeris, mentioned in May that it was still too early to accurately measure the full extent of the impact from the backlash against Pride-linked promotions.