Americans aren’t drinking as much Mexican beer — that’s not been good for Constellation
The nation’s largest beer importer by sales just saw a 10-year growth streak come to an abrupt end.
For years, Americans couldn’t get enough of Modelo and Corona, helping turn their US importer, Constellation Brands, into one of the fastest-growing companies in consumer staples. Now, that streak may finally be drying up.
Last week, the beer and wine giant reported a 10% decline in net sales for the year ended February 2026, driven by a 3% drop in beer sales and a 51% plunge across its wine and spirits — though the latter segment was largely dragged down by its divestiture of lower-end wine labels.
The company said that overall demand across beer, wine, and spirits “remained subdued” during much of the year as its core customer base, particularly lower-income households and Hispanic consumers, cut back on spending or traded down to cheaper alternatives amid economic uncertainty.
When Constellation acquired the full US rights to import and sell a bevy of Mexican beer brands, including Modelo, Corona, and Pacifico, in 2013, beer made up roughly half of its sales. Today, that share exceeds 90% of total revenue, with Modelo Especial now the top-selling beer brand by dollar sales in the US.
However, the company’s beer sales growth streak reversed for the first time in 12 years in FY26, with shipments falling roughly 4% from the prior year, or just over 15 million cases. The slowdown has been showing up across beer coming from Mexico more broadly, too.
With Constellation accounting for a dominant share (about 93%) of Mexican beer imported into the US, the category’s total import value also fell 4.3% in 2025, marking the first annual decline at the border since 2009 after more than two decades of growth.
Sobered up
The slowing alcohol demand also reflects a longer-term shift in how Americans think about drinking. A 2025 Gallup survey found that US drinking rates hit a record low, with two-thirds of younger Americans saying even moderate drinking is bad for health, up from just 28% in 2005. Meanwhile, the rise of GLP-1s — which a growing body of research links to lower alcohol consumption — alongside the surging popularity of nonalcoholic alternatives have also been weighing on the industry.
Constellation is already responding to the broader shifts. In January, the company launched Modelo’s first-ever nonalcoholic offering, followed by a March acquisition of HOPWTR, a nonalcoholic hop water brand it had backed since 2021.
