USA: Import beer sales overtake domestic premium beer sales for the first time ever

According to Nielsen IQ sales data for the four weeks ending April 20, 2024, import beer sales overtook domestic premium beer sales for the first time ever, Forbes reported on May 24.

Import beer sales outpaced domestic premium beer sales based on dollars, though more volume of domestic premium beer was sold; import beer is typically sold at a higher price than domestic premium beer. The sales data is based on bar code scans, so it represents primarily sales of beer for off-premise consumption (purchased from stores), rather than on-premise sales of beer in bars and restaurants.

Although imports only overtook domestic beer sales in the category of “domestic premium,” that category includes brands such as Bud Light, Coors Light and Budweiser, but does not include domestic super premium, such as Michelob Ultra and Landshark, or domestic below premium, such as Miller High Life, Keystone Light and Busch.

Mexican brand Modelo Especial became the top-selling beer in the United States, surpassing Bud Light for the first time in May 2023. That import beer sales overtook those of domestic premium beer in April 2024 is evidence of the continuing trend of the American beer drinker reaching for import beers generally and Mexican brands specifically; Mexican beers made up about 82% of the import beer market based on sales dollars as of December 2023.

“This is just the latest evidence that Mexican imports are a mainstream part of the beer landscape now,” said Kate Bernot, lead reporter for Sightlines, a beverage alcohol insights newsletter, in a video interview. “Corona used to represent a special beach vacation, but today, Modelo is just a beer people drink on a regular basis.” Bernot notes that more non-Hispanic households now purchase Modelo than Hispanic households.

The category of Mexican beer imports has grown to the point that it now covers many beer styles and segmentation, just like the broader beer industry. Modelo and Corona are purchased by mainstream drinkers while brands like Dos Equis, Victoria and Bohemia target a more Hispanic audience. Modelo itself has popular lines of flavored Cheladas and Aguas Frescas. “Along with a variety of flavors, these brands are also targeting varied segments of the American public, indicating that Mexican imports are no monolith and are in fact a stand-alone category with internal variation,” said Bernot.

Even in craft beer, many small American breweries have latched on to the trend. Durango, Colorado’s Ska Brewing released a beer called Mexican Logger as long ago as 1999, but in recent years many craft breweries have released beers in the style of Mexican lager. “Americans just know what that is now,” says Bernot. “It shows that Mexican lager is mainstream beer.”

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