2026 Beer Market Report: Imported beer contends with tough comps as year wrapped

"Imports for most of the year were doing pretty well, staying above the line, the zero line, but toward the end of the year they did start to dip off, and there were some really tough comps faced against 2024."

"The imported beer market, led by Constellation, has outperformed the overall beer market over the past several years. However, it actually underperformed domestic beer declining an estimated close to 6% in 2025."

"We didn't really see any impact to sales from the tariffs or supply chain in 2025. Tariffs are having an impact on importer costs, but overall pricing has been fairly consistent with modest increases."

The imported beer market experienced its first significant downturn in approximately a decade, with dollar sales declining 2.6% to $11.1 billion and case sales dropping 4.2% for the 52 weeks ending December 28, 2025. This decline occurred despite imports performing well for most of the year, with weakness emerging in the final quarter due to challenging year-over-year comparisons. The downturn marks a reversal after years of imported beer outperforming the overall beer market, though it underperformed domestic beer by approximately 6% in 2025. Tariffs had minimal impact on sales performance, with pricing increases remaining modest at 1.7% per case, slightly above the overall beer market increase of 1.6%. Italian imported beer showed strength, growing approximately 9% during the period.

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