Far from shunning the beverage, Corona beer fans in the US are purchasing increased volumes of the brand through retail channels, according to its parent, Constellation Brands.
According to Constellation, quoting IRI data, beer volume sales in off-premise locations across the US increased by more than 30% in the most recent four-week period, compared to the 52-week average.
Retail Support
The move follows Constellation taking extra steps to 'bolster support' for retail and distribution channels, as consumer purchasing shifts from bars and restaurants to grocery and convenience stores.
"Our teams remain committed to supporting the needs of local consumers, retailers, distributors, and the economies they help bolster in this critical time," Bill Newlands, president and chief executive of Constellation Brands said in a statement.
"We will announce additional measures to further support our industry and communities in the coming days.”
'Work Together'
Calling on the public and private sectors to "work together" to tackle the coronavirus crisis, Newlands added that recent decisions to close the northern and southern borders of the US will not impact commercial traffic, and therefore have a limited effect on its operations.
"This will prove helpful as we and other companies in the consumer product goods space work to provide a bit of comfort in this otherwise difficult time.”
Social Media Claims
In late February, Constellation Brands hit out at suggestions on social media that its Corona beer brand was seeing sales slump due to its unfortunate name association with COVID-19.
"It’s extremely unfortunate that recent misinformation about the impact of this virus on our business has been circulating in traditional and social media without further investigation or validation," Newlands said at the time.
"These claims simply do not reflect our business performance and consumer sentiment, which includes feedback from our distributor and retailer partners across the country."
Constellation Brands' beer portfolio includes the Corona beer family of brands, as well as Modelo Especial, Modelo Negra, and Pacifico.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
