• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation

3

Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation

3

Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
Retail

Why Mexican Beers Continue to Outperform the Industry

By
John Kell
John Kell
Contributing Writer and author of CIO Intelligence
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
John Kell
John Kell
Contributing Writer and author of CIO Intelligence
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 30, 2015, 9:00 AM ET
Corona and Pacifico beer.
Corona and Pacifico beer.Photograph by Scott Olson — Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Given its relatively minuscule share of the $100 billion U.S. beer market, the craft beer industry gets outsize attention. That’s because craft is growing fast and has fueled rapid merger and acquisition action over the past few years.

Meanwhile, a different slice of the beer market is picking up more bar taps and retail shelf space. Mexican-produced beers like Corona, Tecate, and Dos Equis are notching consistent gains, with volume growth for those beers expected to continue in 2016 and beyond.

“They get stronger and stronger by the day, as importers like Constellation Brands and Heineken get savvier,” Harry Schuhmacher, editor and publisher of industry publication Beer Business Daily, told Fortune in an interview earlier this year. Those companies are spending more on marketing to help propel the growth of their Mexican imports business, he adds.

Schuhmacher says that beers like Modelo Especial and Corona are easy to drink, much like many U.S.-made light lagers. But they don’t stir the same scorn that some beer drinkers have for domestic beers like Bud Light and Miller Lite. As so, they’ve been able to steal market share from competitors.

The proof is in the sales data. Corona and Model Especial producer Constellation Brands (STZ) posted a 14% jump in net beer sales in the U.S. for the first six months of the company’s current fiscal year. Meanwhile, total U.S. beer market sales have been flat in recent years.

Constellation’s beer business represented 45% of total beer industry volume growth during the second quarter, boasted its CEO Rob Sands. That growth has helped lift Constellation’s stock by nearly 550% over the past five years and also helped the alcoholic-beverage producer land on Fortune‘s fastest-growing companies list for 2015.

Heineken, maker of Dos Equis and Tecate, is also a big beneficiary of the trend toward Mexican beers. Strong demand from those beers have helped the Dutch brewer outperform the slow-growing U.S. beer industry.

Marketers see even more opportunities to expand the audience for Mexican beers. Heineken Chief Marketing Officer Nuno Teles says his company will launch a national, English-language campaign for Tecate in 2016. And Constellation is planning Spanish-language TV ads for Victoria for the first time in the U.S. market.

“The beer drinker in America is looking for something new to discover,” says Jim Sabia, CMO of Constellation Brands’ beer division.

Teles and Sabia say their companies need to be careful about how they market their beers, as they need to appeal to a few key groups of consumers. On one end, they are marketing to Mexican-born Americans and multicultural millennials with higher awareness of the brands. But they are also trying to court non-Hispanics as well as Latinos from other countries who might not be able to tell the difference between a Tecate or Victoria.

Marketing campaigns that introduce these beers on American television often start out as regional, Spanish-language ads in Arizona, Texas, and other Sunbelt states. They eventually progress to national, English-language ads when the brewers see greater sales potential.

Beer executives say Mexican beers are winning over U.S.-produced rivals among some consumers for a few reasons. The Hispanic population has swelled by nearly 46 million over the last several decades. That group has helped fuel much of the growth.

While consumers from Mexico are already aware of Modelo Especial, Corona, and other locally produced beers, there isn’t as much knowledge in the general population. Modelo is the second-largest importer in the U.S., though Constellation says it found that roughly one in four U.S. beer drinkers in the broader market didn’t know anything about the brand.

“Modelo consumers for many years were from Mexico,” says Sabia. “We’ve been trying to cross over to other areas of Latin America.”

Heineken is aiming to exploit the fact that consumers are willing to try more beers than ever.

“Loyal consumers we don’t have any more because everyone is promiscuous,” says Teles, who estimates a typical beer drinker enjoys 14 different brands in their repertoire. “Every single month, you need to go out and recruit consumers.”

About the Author
By John KellContributing Writer and author of CIO Intelligence

John Kell is a contributing writer for Fortune and author of Fortune’s CIO Intelligence newsletter.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Retail

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Retail

cinerama
Arts & EntertainmentHollywood
Hollywood’s iconic Cinerama Dome to reopen under deal with Sony, Alamo Drafthouse
By The Associated PressJuly 22, 2026
28 minutes ago
An open plain bagel with cream cheese smeared on a plate.
North AmericaImmigration
Seeds, schmear, sesame: How a bagel’s toasted crunch that became a reflection of America’s identity
By The Associated Press and Josh CornfieldJuly 21, 2026
22 hours ago
Lauren Sánchez Bezos put $34 million behind reinventing what clothes are made of—and stirred a debate about Amazon
Environmentphilanthropy
Lauren Sánchez Bezos put $34 million behind reinventing what clothes are made of—and stirred a debate about Amazon
By Sydney LakeJuly 21, 2026
1 day ago
wilt
Arts & EntertainmentAuction
Gen Z entrepreneur found a Wilt Chamberlain Lakers warm-up for $3.07 outside Portland — it was a $90,000 genuine article
By Claire Rush and The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
1 day ago
‘We all failed’: Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner on Hollywood, video games and the big question of IP
Arts & EntertainmentDisney
‘We all failed’: Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner on Hollywood, video games and the big question of IP
By Joshua HongJuly 21, 2026
1 day ago
A Jersey Mike's logo is displayed outside one of their stores in San Diego, California.
InvestingIPOs
Jersey Mike’s IPO valuation could reach eight times Sweetgreen’s market cap
By Sheryl EstradaJuly 21, 2026
2 days ago

Most Popular

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
Success
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
2 days ago
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
Cybersecurity
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
By Jeremy Kahn and Emily ForliniJuly 21, 2026
24 hours ago
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
AI
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
By Eva RoytburgJuly 21, 2026
1 day ago
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
Success
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
By Emma BurleighJuly 21, 2026
1 day ago
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
Success
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
By Sydney LakeJuly 20, 2026
2 days ago
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
AI
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
By Jason MaJuly 18, 2026
4 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.