Anheuser-Busch North America says 3 ‘mega trends’ will keep iconic beer in business

Americans aren’t boozing like they used to — especially with beer.

Anheuser-Busch North America, known for its iconic brands such as Bud Light and Budweiser, is looking to three “mega trends” to play a role in expanding their brand, the CEO Michel Doukeris told FOX Business on Wednesday.

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BUD ANHEUSER-BUSCH INBEV 53.80 -0.28 -0.52%
SAM BOSTON BEER CO. INC. 316.24 +2.56 +0.82%
TAP MOLSON COORS BEVERAGE CO. 62.06 +0.81 +1.32%

The beer giant is turning to premium beers such as Shock Top, Goose Island and Budweiser Reserve to counter the company’s slower sales in flagship lager brands.  In 2018, Bud Light lost 80 basis points of market share, while Budweiser lost 35 basis points of share.

“Today consumers are looking for different experiences different products and they love innovation and we’ve been innovating more than ever before this is playing a very important role for us in terms of growth,” Doukeris said to Maria Bartiromo.

Anheuser-Busch is also looking to cater to more health-conscious consumers with investments in products such as Pure Gold, an organic brew under its Michelob Ultra brand. It also recently announced a partnership with Tilray to reasearch cannabis-infused drinks.

“The second is this idea of health conscious consumers and products that can fit that lifestyle,” he said. ”So when we think about the success of Michelob Ultra, for example, the low carbs, low calories proposition, this is a field that we continue to explore and we believe that there is a lot to come from there,” he explained.

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Anheuser-Busch has also launched a series of purpose driven brands, including a big initiative to provide more access to clean water.

“So we've been doing a lot of initiatives of our brands,” he said. “For example, Stella Artois and all this support for their water and the water in Africa and the emerging countries together... So as you buy Stella you are making a contribution.”

Anheuser-Bush announced on Wednesday that they would deliver emergency drinking water to volunteer firefighters nationwide to help prepare for upcoming wildfire season. Additionally they are sending more than 150 thousand cans of emergency drinking water to communities in Missouri and Oklahoma impacted by devastating flooding.