Budweiser Brewing Group: Q2 2021 Financial Results and statement

“As our global brands continue to see growth, I want to thank all of our teams for their collective energy and effort in putting us in a strong position for the rest of the year. While high demand continues in the Off-Trade, our teams have worked tirelessly to keep Britain’s favourite beers on supermarket shelves. As pubs reopen, we are lending our support to the thousands of British pubs, restaurants and retailers we work with to help them deliver a strong reopening.

“We have been planning for this time of celebration and coming back together. To ensure that we are well-placed to capture the continued growth in the off-trade, and the surge in demand as pubs re-open, we’ve recently invested more than £115 million in our UK breweries. These operate around the clock, so we can brew 630 million more pints a year to keep our pub and retail partners stocked up.

Brand Performance
“This quarter, consumers continued to choose our strong portfolio of leading premium and super premium beers. Stella Artois retained its position as the #1 beer brand in the Off-Trade throughout Q2, while Budweiser remained the #2 beer brand in the Off-Trade. Corona, the UK’s best-selling World Beer in supermarkets, is performing significantly ahead of the beer category, with a double digit increase in volume sales vs. 2019. Camden Hells saw a strong performance in the Off-Trade and in Q2 has continued to outperform the total category, nearly doubling in size vs 2019. As pubs re-opened, Budweiser Brewing Group grew volume ahead of the category and saw outstanding performance, with Stella Artois, Camden Hells and Corona draught driving this growth.

“We continue to leverage the power and scale of our brands to engage, inspire and support our consumers and communities. Stella Artois – as key sponsor to the prestigious Wimbledon Tournament and the Ascot racecourse – was the perfect accompaniment to bring people together once again through sport. During the peak of the horse racing season, the brand became the first global beer brand to enter the world of NFTs by teaming up with premium digital horse racing platform ZED RUN to auction fifty rare branded NFT racehorses. The campaign enabled racing fanatics - both on and off the course - the chance to collect, trade, race and immerse themselves in the brand, all in the ZED RUN metaverse.

Our iconic brand Budweiser drove real environmental change as we revealed that every single can, bottle and keg of Budweiser in the UK is now brewed with 100% renewable electricity – a claim made possible by significant investment in solar farms and wind turbines. On Earth Day, Budweiser launched giant celebratory messages toasting the people, places, sports institutions and even competitors who are taking action in sustainability.

“Championing the return of summer’s football tournament after a yearlong wait, our Bud Light Boxheads campaign meant that anyone could be an England player. The campaign celebrated Bud Light as the official beer of the England team, and heroed Bud Light packaging with blown-up images of players’ faces, including Jordan Pickford, Keiran Trippier and Kyle Walker. We have loved seeing football fans across the country wearing Boxheads and enjoying one of the most highly anticipated summers of football ever.

“As people were released from lockdown, Corona plugged into the power of nature with its From the Natural World campaign. As a brand so deeply connected to nature and brewed with 100% natural ingredients, it’s the perfect beer for the re-opening moment when people can fully experience the outdoors again. Through this immersive campaign, it aims to provide consumers with an inspiring feeling of escapism and remind them of the unique power that the natural world has.

“In April, we launched Bud Light Seltzer. Containing 95 calories per can and 4% ABV, it appeals to those looking for lighter, naturally flavoured options. Seltzer is hugely popular this summer as people re-connect, and consumers are enjoying Bud Light Seltzer both in pubs and through retailers where it’s being sold. We anticipate it will continue to grow in line with the booming UK hard seltzer market, which is forecast to hit £600m by 2025.

Economic Recovery
“Budweiser Brewing Group UK&I is a proud British brewer with a strong presence in the UK. Recently we launched a recruitment drive for more than 100 open positions in our commercial business and in our breweries. As a company, we play an important role when it comes to strengthening our communities and building a better, more inclusive and equal world. To widen access to our company and create more diverse routes in the workplace, we launched two Apprenticeship Schemes this quarter. We are committed to creating and developing opportunities for more people to achieve great things, at such an exciting time for our business. We have multiple initiatives to advance diversity and inclusion at all levels throughout our organization.​

Looking to the future
“Looking ahead, we are continuing to invest in the UK - in our people, operations, portfolio and in the long-term sustainable recovery of the sector. We are hopeful for the future, and we are well-placed to capture the excitement as consumers across the UK continue to reconnect with loved ones. We will continue to bring our consumers and customers more of what they’re looking for, supporting those around us with the belief that the recovery takes a community, and that we will continue to go further together.