It's Modelo: Mexican Beer Gains Top Retail Sales Spot in U.S. ...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | Well, a cold one would go great with Mexico's other top-seller in the United States - avocados. It's about beer these days over in our southern neighbor's backyard. And they're crowing loud and proud about this previously unreachable achievement.

Modelo beer is the Number One seller in the U.S.

Well, not being a beer drinker, I have no idea which beer has that spot in the Rio Grande Valley. Is Schlitz still around? Quien sobby? I know. Most party types I see are forever asking for pricy cocktails these days. Beer? Try Licha's Cantina, or waltz into some backyard barbecue and get a better read.

Anyway, word comes that Modelo Especial has gained an 8.4% of the beer sales retail market here in the Mainland 48. Who knows about Hawaii and Alaska? In second place is the perennial leader - Bud Light - which has lost market share thanks to a wildly criticized advertising campaign featuring a transgender celebrity.

Bud Light's share is being reported at 7.3%

This added bit from mexiconewsdaily.com: [ While some may look to tie Bud Light’s downfall with the brand’s recent controversial advertising campaign - which featured transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney and angered both sides of the political spectrum - the downturn in its sales also reflect wider issues with the Belgian brewer, which also owns Busch Light, Michelob and Natural Light.

Mexican beer brands have seen significant growth in the U.S. market in recent years, according to the Washington Post newspaper, which estimates as much as 80% of U.S. imported beer is from Mexico. Even before the Bud Light campaign, Modelo was on track to become the top-selling beer by 2030, the newspaper said.

If current sales trends continue, Modelo is well-placed to end 2023 as America’s top-selling beer brand for the calendar year. ]

I threw this at a friend overnight and it did draw a frown from her. "Corona is and always will be my beer," she told me, seriously. "What about Bohemia?"

I had no info on Bohemia, a beer I always thought was more for the artists than for the lushes. But, sure, times change. The once-hallowed cantina night crawl has lost much of its social standing around here. Where you used to see a sprinkling in the poorer side of town, today they are few and far apart. Brownsville some 60 miles downriver seems to have the last of the Great Cantinas, although some of the downtown stops there take on a more modern approach, air-conditioning even being availed to boozing patrons.

Modelo beer will celebrate its new standing, as it should.

I may even ask for one at my neighborhood bar at sundown later today. Sure, just to see what all the hoopla is about with this particular drink...

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