Constellation Brands, Inc., a
Fortune 500
The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...
company,
is an American producer and marketer of
beer
Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
,
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...
, and spirits. Constellation is the largest beer import company in the US, measured by sales, and has the third-largest market share (7.4 percent) of all major beer suppliers. It also has investments in medical and recreational cannabis.
Based in
Victor, New York
Victor is an incorporated town in Ontario County, New York. The population was 15,969 at the time of the 2020 census. The town is named after Claudius Victor Boughton, an American hero of the War of 1812.
The Town of Victor contains a village, ...
, Constellation has about 40 facilities and approximately 9,000 employees.
The company has more than 100 brands in its portfolio. Wine brands include
Robert Mondavi, Kim Crawford, Meiomi,
Simi Winery
Simi Winery is a winery in California in the United States.
History
The winery was founded in San Francisco, California in 1876 by two Italian brothers, Giuseppe and Pietro Simi, who had immigrated to the United States during the California Gold R ...
,
Ruffino
Ruffino is a wine producer based in the Tuscany region of Italy. Founded in 1877, the winery was purchased by the Brescia
Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label=Eastern Lombard, Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city a ...
, and The Prisoner Wine Company. Constellation's beer portfolio includes imported brands such as
Corona,
Modelo Especial
Grupo Modelo is a large brewery in Mexico that exports beer to most countries of the world. Its export brands include '' Corona'', ''Modelo'', and '' Pacífico''. Grupo Modelo also brews brands that are intended solely for the domestic Mexican ...
,
Negra Modelo, and
Pacífico, as well as American craft beer producer
Funky Buddha. Spirits brands include
Svedka
Svedka is a mid-priced brand of vodka owned by New York-based Constellation Brands. The product name is a portmanteau of the words ''Sverige'' or ''Svenska'' ("Sweden" and "Swedish" respectively in the Swedish language) and "vodka". The spirit ...
Vodka,
Casa Noble Tequila and
High West Whiskey,
Nelson's Green Brier Tennessee Whiskey.
History
Early days
The company was established in 1945 by
Marvin Sands
Marvin L. Sands (1924 – August 28, 1999) was an American businessman, and the founder and CEO of Constellation Brands, a Fortune 500 beer, wine and spirits company.
Early life
Marvin Sands was the son of Mordecai E. Sands, who was a partner i ...
in the
Finger Lakes
The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and transitional ...
region of New York as Canandaigua Industries, selling bulk wine to bottlers in the eastern United States.
In its first year, the company sold approximately 200,000 gallons of wine and had gross sales of $150,000.
The company was incorporated as Canandaigua Wine Company, Inc. in 1972 and went public in 1973. Marvin's son
Richard Sands became president in 1993 and CEO in 1996.
In 1999, Marvin Sands died following a brief illness.
In 1987, the company purchased the
Manischewitz
Manischewitz (; he, מנישביץ) is a brand of kosher products based in the United States, best known for its matzo and kosher wine. Founded in 1888, it became a public corporation in 1923 and remained under family control until January 199 ...
winery in
Canandaigua, New York
Canandaigua (; ''Utaʼnaráhkhwaʼ'' in Tuscarora) is a city in Ontario County, New York, United States. Its population was 10,545 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Ontario County; some administrative offices are at the county complex ...
, and continues to license the Manischewitz name from R.A.B. Foods. In 1998 it acquired
Matthew Clark in the United Kingdom, and after selling off its
cider
Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...
business, the
Gaymer Cider Company, sold half of the business to
Punch Taverns.
Expansion
In 2000, the company changed its name to Constellation Brands, Inc. to reflect the scope of the company and its range of brands.
In 2007,
Rob Sands
Robert Scott Sands (born 1958/59) is an American billionaire businessman, and the executive chair and former CEO of Constellation Brands, a Fortune 500 beer, wine and spirits company founded by his father Marvin Sands.
Early life
Robert Scott ...
was named president and CEO.
During the 2000s, there were multiple acquisitions, with some divestments later in the decade. Acquisitions included
BRL Hardy (Australia) and
Nobilo (New Zealand) in 2003;
Robert Mondavi Corp. for $1 billion in 2004; Vincor International, Canada's largest wine company, for $1.44 billion in 2006; Spirits Marque One (owner of Svedka Vodka) in 2007; and Beam Wines Estates, the wine operations of
Fortune Brands (which included several major brands such as Clos du Bois) for $885 million in 2008.
The company later moved to a more premium wine portfolio, divesting
Almaden Vineyards
Almaden Vineyards, historically written as Almadén Vineyards, is a Californian winery. Founded in 1852, it is the oldest commercial winery in California. Originally located and established in Almaden Valley, San Jose, the winery has since mo ...
,
Inglenook Winery, and the Paul Masson winery in
Madera, California, in 2008, and its value spirits portfolio to the
Sazerac Company
Sazerac Company, Inc is a privately held American alcoholic beverage company headquartered in Metairie in the metropolitan area of New Orleans, Louisiana, but with its principal office in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is owned by billionair ...
in 2009. They sold 30 low-cost wine labels in January 2021 to E. & J. Gallo for $810 million including Clos du Bois.
In 2013, Constellation acquired Grupo Modelo's US beer business from
Anheuser-Busch InBev
Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, commonly known as AB InBev, is an American-Belgian multinational drink and brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium. AB InBev has a global functional management office in New York City, and regional headquarters ...
. The transaction included full ownership of Crown Imports LLC which provided Constellation with complete, independent control of all aspects of the US commercial business; a brewery in Mexico; exclusive perpetual brand license in the US to import, market and sell Corona and the Modelo brands and the freedom to develop brand extensions and innovations for the US market.
Constellation had formerly imported Corona and other Modelo brands to the United States and acquired the US rights to those brands as a part of an anti-trust settlement permitting Modelo's acquisition by Anheuser-Busch InBev. It now produces its own versions of those products for the US, with Modelo serving all other countries. In 2014, Constellation finalized a joint venture with
Owens-Illinois
O-I Glass, Inc. is an American company that specializes in container glass products. It is one of the world's leading manufacturers of packaging products, holding the position of largest manufacturer of glass containers in North America, South A ...
and completed the acquisition of Anheuser-Busch InBev's glass production plant, located adjacent to the company's brewery in
Nava, Mexico.
In December 2015, Constellation announced the $1 billion acquisition of
Ballast Point Brewing of San Diego. In October 2016, Constellation announced the $160 million acquisition of High West Distillery of
Park City, Utah. In August 2017, Constellation announced the acquisition of Funky Buddha Brewery of Oakland Park, Florida.
In April 2018,
Accolade Wines (acquired under the name BRL Hardy) was sold to private equity firm
The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and ...
. Constellation had already in 2011 reduced its holdings in Accolade to 20%.
In February 2019, Constellation announced it had acquired a minority stake in Black Button Distilling, a craft spirits distillery in Rochester, NY. In April 2019, Constellation announced a deal to sell wine brands, including Clos du Bois and Mark West, to
E. & J. Gallo Winery for $1.7 billion. In July 2019, Constellation announced it had acquired a minority stake in Montanya Distillers, a craft-rum distillery in
Crested Butte, Colorado
Crested Butte is a home rule municipality located in Gunnison County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 1,639 at the 2020 United States Census. The former coal mining town is now called "the last great Colorado ski town". Creste ...
and a majority stake in Nelson's Green Brier Distillery, a revival of the original Green Brier Tennessee Whiskey and Belle Meade Bourbon labels in Nashville, TN.
In December 2019, the sale of
Ballast Point Brewing to Kings & Convicts Brewery of Illinois was announced. Terms were not disclosed. In July 2020, Constellation Brands acquired
Empathy Wines, co-founded by entrepreneur
Gary Vaynerchuk.
On September 15, 2020, it was announced Constellation Brands acquires craft spirits producer
Copper & Kings American Brandy. In February 2022, Constellation was reported to have approached
Monster Beverage
Monster Beverage Corporation is an American beverage company that manufactures energy drinks including Monster Energy, Relentless and Burn. The company was originally founded as Hansen's in 1935 in Southern California, originally selling juice ...
to enter into a merger with a combined valuation above $90 billion.
Cannabis
In 2017, the company began investing in medical marijuana. In March 2019, Bill Newlands became CEO. In October 2017, Constellation agreed to pay about C$245 million ($191 million) for a 9.9% stake in
Canopy Growth Corporation
Canopy Growth Corporation, formerly Tweed Marijuana Inc., is a cannabis company based in Smiths Falls, Ontario.
In April 2019, Canopy was the world's largest cannabis company, based on the value of all shares, or market capitalization. At that t ...
, a Canadian seller of medicinal-marijuana products. At the time of the agreement, Constellation became the first Fortune 500 company and the first major alcoholic beverage maker to take a minority stake in a marijuana business. In August 2018, the company announced that it would invest an additional US$4 billion in Canopy Growth Corporation in advance of the legalization of recreational
cannabis in Canada in October that year. The investment will increase its share in the Canadian Company to 38%. Canopy Growth president Bruce Linton said the additional funds would be used for international expansion and that future marketing plans included products such as cannabis-infused beverages and sleep aids.
Controversies
In 2010, a French court in
Carcassonne, France, convicted 12 wine traders and producers for selling fake
pinot noir
Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French words for ''pine'' and ''black.'' The word ''pine ...
wine to buyers in the US, amongst them Constellation, in a
scheme A scheme is a systematic plan for the implementation of a certain idea.
Scheme or schemer may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''The Scheme'' (TV series), a BBC Scotland documentary series
* The Scheme (band), an English pop band
* ''The Schem ...
that lasted from January 2006 to March 2008. Constellation later faced and settled a
class action lawsuit
A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...
because it "should have known" that the wine was fake.
In 2018 Constellation Brands was involved in a water rights dispute over a proposed manufacturing facility in the desert city of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. This water comes from the Colorado River, which not only provides Mexicali and the agricultural valley but is also piped to the mountain and coastal cities of Tijuana, Tecate, Rosarito and to some areas of Ensenada.
In 2021, AB InBev sued Constellation Brands after the company launched two new Modelo-branded beers on the US market, arguing that the first beer illegally used the term tequila to describe the barrels where the beer was aged, and that the second beer was inappropriately using the term Bourbon to describe the barrels where the beer was aged because Bourbon has nothing to do with Mexico.
[Christopher Doering]
AB InBev sues Constellation Brands over move to sell new Mexican beers in US
''Fooddive.com'', 2 September 2021
References
External links
*
{{Portalbar, New York, Companies, Drinks
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Companies based in Ontario County, New York
Food and drink companies based in New York (state)
Food and drink companies established in 1945
Wineries of the United States
1945 establishments in New York (state)
Drink companies of the United States
Family-owned companies of the United States