Mexican beer Modelo becomes America's best-selling beer of the year

Modelo Especial has officially become the best selling beer of the year, surpassing Bud Light, which had held the title for more than two decades. 

The Mexican beer Modelo went from being the most popular beer consumed by Latinos in California to one of the most-sold beers in the country. In the past decade, its sales have more than tripled to 187 million cases being sold in 2022. 

Modelo was founded in 1925 in Mexico and became the country’s best-selling beer in the 1980s. By the 2000s, it had 60% of the Mexican market share. In 1990, Modelo entered the U.S. market, prompted by the North American Free Trade Agreement. 

Executives for Constellation Brands, which owns Modelo, said the growth in sales was due to a campaign that tried to bring the beer to the mainstream American public.

 In the early 2010s, Modelo’s main customers were Mexican-Americans living in California. However, in 2016, the company decided to launch its first-ever English-language national ad campaign. Since then, Modelo’s commercials focused on sharing the narratives of Latinos in the country. 

According to executives for Constellation Brands, the company that owns Modelo in the U.S., the ad campaign facilitated the beer’s popularity in the nation. 

This week, the beer surpassed Bud Light as the most-sold beer in the nation. Modelo currently has an 8.34% share of dollars spent on beer at American stores year-to-date, compared to 8.28% for Bud Light so far this year. 

Since May, the Mexican lager had been gaining on Bud Light in annual sales, after the American beer’s parent company Anheuser-Busch received backlash for parenting with the transgender influences Dylan Mulvaney. 

Bud Light’s sales figures have plummeted after a boycott was called in light of the campaign to mark “365 days of girlhood.” As of July, Bud Light sales were down 14.5% on a dollar basis for the year and down 18.8% in volume. 

Other beers also benefited from Bud Light’s controversial decision: Miller Lite dollar sales were up to 19.2% Coors Light increased 20.7%, Yuengling Traditional Lager by 22.5%, and Corona Extra by 4.8%.