Just four months from its release, Corona Hard Seltzer has already established a foothold in the competitive market for alcoholic seltzer drinks.
Constellation Brands (STZ 0.78%) on Wednesday announced sales results for the young brand as part of its fiscal first-quarter earnings release. The popularity of its hard seltzer helped push consumption higher in its broader beer portfolio despite a 75% drop in sales to restaurant and bar partners that were under lockdown conditions for most of the period, management said.
"We continue to win in sales channels that are open," CEO Bill Newlands said, including supermarket chains and convenience stores.
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Constellation Brands estimates that Corona Hard Seltzer is now the fourth best-selling product in the niche, behind leaders like Sam Adams' (SAM 0.74%) Truly. It is seeing a strong uptake from its retailing partners and has won roughly 6% market share since being launched in early March.
The success of the product helped push profitability higher in the company's beer segment, which means Constellation Brands has more resources to direct toward aggressive marketing plans and new flavor launches over the summer and fall selling months.
