Yep, and all the craft beers that used to bottle switched to cans during the pandemic because glass was so hard to get. So now it’s almost all cans, regardless of the quality inside.
Odd as it sounds, this is an area where tariffs could achieve reshoring aims, because the consumer already has lots of domestic alternatives. You can buy Miller, or Sam Adams, or Red Hook. Too bad about the aluminium though.....
Hold the fuck on, none of those are alternatives to Modelo. Look, I like Sam Adams, I like High Life. Red Hook is not good but whatever, it's still beer. But none of those are alternatives to Modelo. Pepsi is not an alternative to Coke either. No one switches back and forth.
Brewed for 10+ years professionally. It's not just beer brewed in Mexico. Pretty much all of the grain used to make beer comes from overseas especially Canada.
I was joking earlier about whether or not Canadians will be too angry to even smuggle goods into your lawless wasteland when the time comes. Then I watched Ukraine blow up a refinery 1,400 kms over the Russian border and thought, yah, probably too angry.
This is a very Blue bubble kind of response. I say that sitting in my Blue bubble; but there are large swaths of the country and more to the point, large beer drinking demographics who don't have access or familiarity with craft brews.
I lived in STL when InBev bough AB and "rationalized" operations. This meant there were a lot of unemployed brewers and that spurred a bit of a beer renaissance in STL. I thought everyone was choosing between several local craft brewers each fielding 10-30 different beers. Then I went home.
I take your point, but local doesn't necessarily mean your town or city. There are still regional brews that can fill gaps in markets if the opportunities arise.
Pretty sure this is not true. A US company owns the US distribution and naming rights because of the merger agreement but it's all entirely brewed in Mexico by the Modelo Group and imported. It literally has the import info on the bottle neck.
My hunch would be that they make all of their flagship beer (especial) in Mexico but they make some of their smaller and seasonally popular lines in NV and CA. The last time I bought Negra it was definitely still an import but that easily could have changed in the last year.
It's going to be very weird if they have to hike the price on their flagship brand but not the Negra, which is a better beer anyways. I will buy the Negra 100% of the time if that happens.
Yeah I don't know what Chefs Resource is, but Modelo was an import in 2024. So unless this happened in the last 2 months, something isn't right. I've Google everywhere, even looking for a brewery in CA and I'm coming up empty.
I learned it was Modelo a year or two ago, which surprised me at the time. Even after learning that, seeing this post made me think, "Oh yeah, I can believe Corona is the most popular."
I live in/near a large Hispanic neighborhood and every time my local grocery store rearranges the walk-in beer cooler the Modelo aisle gets bigger. It might be more than an entire aisle at this point.
When I first arrived in the US in 2019 someone handed me a Bud, it was terrible.
I found this Mexican beer in the local liquor store and that's all I drank for the next 3 months.
Beautiful beer -
TBF I think Modelo gained the #1 spot bc all the right wingers boycotted Budweiser bc they dared to sponsor a social media post by a trans woman. So they aren’t that brand loyal.
Alcohol value chain with high US sales already bleeding because of secular trends. This could straight up kill companies, and will be one more twist of the knife for restaurants with liquor licenses, who will already be taking it in both ends.
It’s about that degree of brand loyalty/preference/unaided awareness in the US for both at-home and on-premises consumption, yes. So you know what it costs and don’t tend to diversify.
(Not a casual opinion; I have been a hospitality analytics leader and consultant for a long time.)
It also became the most popular beer in America recently because MAGA got mad at Bud Light for doing one ad featuring a trans actress and the subsequent right wing media fueled boycott cratered Budweiser's sales enough for Modelo to take over.
It wasn't even an ad, at least not a traditional ad. They made her personalized cans, which she featured on social media, they did this for several social media influencers, no one else got any real attention. It got picked up from there. And AB caved instead of telling them to go cry in their beer.
I made this comment last time he threatened can/mx tariffs, then got disappointed when be paused the tariffs. I just needed to keep the faith and trust the process.
Comments
Not that pasteurized stuff, but beer made from apples
RETVRN
“Cider” here is what America calls “hard cider.”
Which I hear kinda important to beer. It can’t all be rice or corn (and still taste like beer).
https://thedrinksproject.com/where-is-modelo-beer-brewed/
https://www.chefsresource.com/is-modelo-beer-made-in-usa/
i only started drinking bud light after dylan mulvaney gave their cosign.
That said I drink like 3 a year but nothing else but an occasional margarita.
I found this Mexican beer in the local liquor store and that's all I drank for the next 3 months.
Beautiful beer -
We might be at war with them in 6 months.
I usually just look for a sour, IPA, or stout and look at the brewer second.
But yeah, I'm not really paying attention to price when I'm grabbing a 6 pack, I'm getting it because it's available and I know I'll like it.
(Not a casual opinion; I have been a hospitality analytics leader and consultant for a long time.)
Constellation Brands produce both for the U.S., but in Mexican facilities.