The subcategory is a bright spot in the beer business and some import brands have supplanted domestic ones as U.S. drinkers’ daily go-tos. According to Circana, a quarter of beer dollars in chain retail came from imported brands in the 52-week period ending in early June, an increase of 9.5% versus the year prior. In that same 52-week period, imports accounted for $11.3 billion in chain retail sales. Because they’re premium-priced, these beers not only add critical volume to a sluggish beer industry, but fuel dollar growth as well.

“The main takeaway is just how successful the imported segment has been in the otherwise flat beer market,” said Scott Scanlon, executive vice president, alcoholic beverages at Circana. “Imported beer has gained the most market share in the past year, with flavored malt beverages and non-alcoholic beer being the only other two share-gaining segments within beer.”

Imported beer’s success stems from one country: Mexico. Beer imported from Mexico made up about 81% of imported beer volume to the U.S. in 2023, an increase of 2% over 2022, according to analysis by the Beer Institute. A decade prior, Mexican beer made up just 61% of beer imported to the U.S.

Non-Mexican brands such as Peroni from Italy and Asahi and Sapporo, both out of Japan, have also enjoyed growth periods in recent years, but they haven’t reached the momentum of Mexican brands. Dollar sales growth of Mexican imports (11.4%) outpaced growth of total imports (9.5%) in chain retail for the 52-week period ending in early June.

Imported beer has gained the most market share in the past year.

Mexican imports are also driving the vast majority of the growth of imported beer in the convenience channel—the share of Mexican imported beer increased from 82% in 2020 to 87% through June 2024, according to data from NIQ.

Some of this steady rise is driven by Mexican beer producers and distributors. Modelo, Corona and Pacifico are all owned in the U.S. by Constellation Brands, and the company has made these brands its absolute priority since acquiring them in 2013.

“Constellation was really putting a lot of money and distribution effort behind Corona and Modelo at a time when their growth aligned with the organic decline or leveling off of [other beer brands],” said Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and editor of the alcohol beverage insights newsletter, Sightlines. “The commitment to [growing] import beer from Mexico has coincided with the broader corporate might of Constellation and their distribution partner, Reyes.”

Supplier and wholesaler investment, combined with organic demand and the leveling off of competition, has set the stage for Mexican imports to win big. They’ve transcended their import label and are now some of the most important lifestyle brands in the United States.

Behind the Numbers

The growth of Mexican beer isn’t just attributed to a growing U.S. Hispanic population. Yes, the U.S. Hispanic population is expanding at a significantly higher rate than the non-Hispanic population, due in large part to Hispanic births. Immigration is a factor, too, accounting for a third of the gain in the U.S. Hispanic population in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

But Mexican imports wouldn’t have risen to their current level of popularity based on Hispanic drinkers alone. Rather, these brands have built loyal fans among drinkers of all ethnicities as core Hispanic consumers introduce these beers to the mainstream.

“One of the key cultural attitudes that governs Hispanics is what we label as trailblazing,” said Victor Paredes, vice president of cultural strategy at Collage Group, a multicultural consumer insights company. Hispanic consumers prefer beer—Collage Group research found that 77% of Hispanic consumers polled reported drinking beer over the past three months, 12 percentage points higher than non-Hispanics—and they’re eager to share the brands they love with others. “They pride themselves in being at the forefront, being first adopters and being fashionable. And they have one of the highest propensities to engage in word-of-mouth. … Their taste palates are in the driver’s seat.”

Collage Group ranked beer brands in terms of their performance in cultural fluency, relevance, trust, memories, advocacy and values that align with what consumers desire. It does this through its fluen.ci app, which fuses consumer, brand and industry data to provide brand-specific cultural insights. Collage Group’s fluen.ci rankings show that of the top 10 overall performing beer brands in cultural fluency, Corona ranks number one and Modelo ranks number 10. Only three of the top 10 are traditional domestic brands: Coors Light, Miller High Life and Budweiser. Stella Artois, Heineken and Heineken Silver, Blue Moon and Samuel Adams rounded out the list.

Hitting the Mainstream

In May 2023, Modelo Especial became the top-grossing beer in off-premise channels. That couldn’t happen without broad appeal across racial, ethnic, age and geographic lines.

“There are not enough Hispanics as a proportion of the U.S. population to propel that to the No.1 beer if only Hispanics are drinking it,” Scanlon said. “Modelo is widespread. It reached the mainstream a long time ago. … People don’t even necessarily think of Modelo as being a Mexican beer.”

In 2023, more non-Hispanic households (61%) purchased Modelo than Hispanic households (39%), according to the brand, though Hispanic households consumed more Modelo by volume than their non-Hispanic counterparts.

In 2023, more non-Hispanic households (61%) purchased Modelo than Hispanic households (39%).

In decades past, imported beer signaled affluence and a degree of exclusivity. But today, Mexican imports are ubiquitous. They enjoy near-universal distribution and tend to outperform the broader beer segment in stores. NIQ data shows the efficiency of Mexican imported beer sales in relation to their distribution points has improved significantly since 2020, such that the growth in Mexican imports can be attributed to both an increase in velocity and a slight increase in distribution points.

And given the geographic proximity of the U.S. and Mexico and the high degree of population movement between the two countries, these beers hardly feel foreign anymore.

“The proximity of these Mexican brands has made it so that Mexican beers are domestic, for all intents and purposes,” Paredes said.

Form Meets Flavor

Indeed, these imports are winning in the same formats and channels where domestic brands have long dominated. In convenience stores, Circana data shows Mexican imports grew by $1.86 billion in the past three years. Modelo Especial alone was responsible for 58% of that growth.

Traditional domestic package sizes—single cans, 12-pack cans, 18- and 24-pack cans—are also showing growth among Mexican brands, indicating that consumers view the occasions for Mexican beer and domestic beer as one and the same. Chain retail sales data analyzed by Feel Goods shows volume sales of Modelo Especial cans in 12-, 18- and 24-packs were all up between 9.5% and 13.2% in 2023. Pacifico 12-packs are up nearly 20%. Single servings of all varieties of Corona and Modelo have grown as well.

So, what’s next for Mexican beer? Mexican imports have set their sights on other popular beer subsegments, including flavored malt beverages and premium light beers. Canned cheladas—beer mixed with flavors like tomato, salt and lime juice—have been on a tear for years.

In 2023, single-serve cans of Modelo Chelada sold the same volume in chain retail as Heineken six packs. Last year, the brand expanded into flavored malt beverages with a line of hard aguas frescas. These are packaged, boozy versions of non-alcoholic fruit juices popular in Mexico and Mexican-American communities; after an initial launch in Las Vegas, the brand expanded to sales in other strong Modelo markets in 2024.

“The proximity of these Mexican brands has made it so that Mexican beers are domestic, for all intents and purposes.”

Constellation launched Modelo Oro nationally in 2023, a low-carb and low-calorie beer targeting the premium light beer segment. It’s caught on fast in the convenience channel, selling more than 1.1 million cases in the 52-week period ending in early June. Notably, there’s still runway for the brand in c-stores, Scanlon said: C-stores account for 36% of Modelo Oro’s dollar sales, while the channel represents 70% of Modelo Especial dollar sales.

Modelo has cemented itself as a true lifestyle brand, using its “fighting spirit” tagline to connect itself to the idea of striving, achievement and grit. To mark the expansion of its aguas frescas line, it didn’t partner with a celebrity but instead announced a celebration of street cart vendors—the everyday people who’ve introduced aguas frescas to the U.S. The brand chose Salvador Gutierrez, owner of the Las Aguas 805 street cart, to receive a custom-built cart and a cash prize.

That may resonate with many consumers and connects with some of the core components of cultural fluency that Paredes mentioned. When thinking about whether a beer brand fits with a certain consumer, Paredes says drinkers ask themselves: “Is this for somebody like me? Does it reflect my social values?”

“What these beers are meant to represent fits in with what may simply be a natural cycle where beer drinkers are looking for something different,” Roth said. “And maybe even something a little more meaningful.”