MillerCoors knocks Bud from No. 2 beer spot
January 5, 2012 – 4:00 amCoors Light has been gaining on the King of Beers for years, and analysts began predicting its rise to No. 2 last year. Indeed, Chicago-based MillerCoors was so confident that Chief Marketing Officer Andy England brashly told distributors early last year that “Budweiser is going down, baby.”
Still, Bud has enjoyed improving trends lately, raising some speculation that it might be able to hold off Coors Light at least temporarily. But according to Beer Marketer’s Insights, Bud still finished 2011 down 4.6% in shipments. And while that was the brand’s slowest decline in years, it was still not enough to keep ahead of Coors Light, which gained 0.8%, the publication reported.
In total, Coors Light shipped 18.2 million barrels, while Budweiser ended 2011 at 17.7 million, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights, which is considered the most respected keeper of beer marketshare data.