“The michelada is the best invention that Mexico gave to the world,” says the vox populi , and it may be true. There is no special recipe to prepare this drink: just salt and lemon, with gummies, fruit, or rather salty, with shrimp, dried meat, valentina and clamato. A michelada has no limits and what counts is what is inside.
Heineken and Grupo Modelo have seen a business opportunity in canning the blends. Carlos Tamez, manager of FAB’s at Heineken Mexico, says that they are looking to use the Sol brand to have a piece of this category, which is increasing among younger beer consumers, from 18 to 35 years old.
The company launched Sol sal y limon in 2018, and since then it has added other blends to the portfolio, a market that was then driven by practicality, since “they are canned beers that can be easily transported and to prepare them it is no longer necessary to carry ingredients, from sauces to lemons.
The pandemic opened new horizons for the category, when people stopped going to bars and restaurants, and moved the consumption of a prepared beer to the home. This gave a boost to the growth of the category, according to the manager.
Tamez did not share the company’s investment in innovation, sales growth or its market share within the segment, in which brands are being added, which also combine beer with other drinks, such as tequila.
In michelada-type mixes, Grupo Modelo is also looking for a part of the market with Victoria beer. Baroness brand has launched several proposals, such as Vicky Chamo.
For now, there is no specific data to determine the size or growth of the mixed beers market, but Tamez sees an encouraging future for this segment, which is growing along with social media recipes to prepare the drinks. “The segment towards the future is going to increase the dynamism because the consumer is experimenting and that is something positive,” he adds.
What is the beer that Mexico consumes the most?
Beer buyers in Mexico are changing their preferences and their ways of drinking beer. In a market that was born two centuries ago and where there was a time when lagers reigned, now light and non-alcoholic beers are gaining space in the refrigerators and ice chests of Mexicans.
These categories are not new, but they have had a boost from the pandemic, which the brewing groups took advantage of to innovate and go for this market, which is the one that has had the fastest growth rate in recent years, which has allowed them to position their brands in the market.
The segment of light and non-alcoholic beers is the fastest growing. From 2016 to 2021, its consumption increased from 17.4 million liters of beer to 29.5 million liters, with a historical growth of 69.2%, according to data from Euromonitor International.
In the same period, the consumption of lager-type beer, which increased 25.8%, while the increase in the consumption of the entire category, that is, of all types of beer, was 25.9%, according to the consultant, who pointed out that the dark beer and stout categories are very small.
Nicolás Álvarez, manager of Amstel Ulta in Mexico, comments that beer has found an opportunity to grow in the Mexican market within the premium segment, in which buyers are willing to buy alcoholic beverages with lower calorie and carbohydrate content. to make a larger outlay in exchange for having these differentiators without sacrificing experience.
“Amstel has become a platform that allows us to expand beyond beer, with the theme of seltzers,” says Amstel Ultra’s director.
The light and non-alcoholic category increased its value in Mexico and went from 24.8 million dollars in 2016 to 50.5 million dollars in 2021, with a growth of 103.7%. This increase exceeds that of lager beers, which was 33.1%, and that of the entire category, which stood at 33.2%.
