Aug 6, 2025
While defending shelf space remains important, suppliers need to
make sure they’re also retaining lucrative display, floor,
promotional and feature space, Bump Williams Consulting (BWC)
president Dave Williams and VP of business development and
portfolio strategy Brian “BK” Krueger shared in the latest edition
of the Brewbound Podcast.
“That’s what really multiplies anything that you have on the
shelf,” Krueger said.
Beer brands’ display losses aren’t just coming from competitors
within the category – they’re coming from other mega alcohol
categories and even non-alcoholic (NA) beverages.
“If you look at what’s on the floor on display now, it’s less
alcohol across the board,” Krueger said. “You’re seeing more of the
sodas, more of the flavor, more of the Olipops, more of the Poppis
that are getting that space that used to be 50-, 60-case stacks of
beer or seltzer or craft or domestic or import.
“Now, it’s gone, it’s out of the mix,” he continued. “And the
frequency has also eroded away as well.”
Williams stressed that suppliers need to maintain alignment with
their wholesaler and retailer partners to protect that space, which
will be key to winning in the future. That alignment comes from
being present in the market to maintain those relationships.
In their conversation with Brewbound senior reporter Zoe Licata,
Williams and Krueger also discuss first-half 2025 trends in detail
with a few reality checks along the way.
“It hasn’t gotten notably worse, but it hasn’t also gotten markedly
better,” Williams said of early year trends. “The reality [is] that
beer and malt in particular based products, that consumer isn’t
coming back around in large droves.
“I don’t expect volume to come back in any meaningful way,” he
continued. “There are certainly some individual winners … I think a
lot of behaviors from consumers right now are drawing people
outside of the beer/malt world. They’re slowing down their
frequency of consumption or volume that they’re consuming when they
do go out and make a purchase at the package store.
Krueger and Williams also share how craft brewers are leveraging
other areas of bev-alc for growth, what’s contributing to flavored
malt beverages’ (FMB) struggles this year and whether consumers are
making pricing-based decisions.
Plus, the Brewbound team reconvenes to discuss Jim Koch’s return as
CEO of Boston Beer and Michael Spillane’s forthcoming exit after 16
months.
Justin, Jess and Zoe explain why the CEO change felt out of left
field, what it means for Koch to return to power after 24 years and
how the conversation around internal candidates is being
framed.