Constellation Brands
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Constellation Brands, Inc. is an American producer and marketer of
beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...
,
wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...
, and spirits. A ''Fortune'' 500 company, 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 sizable investments in medical and recreational cannabis through its association with Canopy Growth. Based in
Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...
, 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,
Ruffino Ruffino is a wine producer based in the Tuscany region of Italy. Founded in 1877, the winery was purchased by the Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the f ...
, and The Prisoner Wine Company. Constellation's beer portfolio includes imported brands such as rights in the United States to Corona, Modelo Especial, Negra Modelo, and Pacífico. Spirits brands include Casa Noble Tequila, High West Whiskey, and Nelson's Green Brier Tennessee Whiskey.


Breweries

Constellation Brands has two breweries in Mexico that produce Corona and Modelo beer for the US market. Those locations are in Nava, Coahuila, and
Ciudad Obregón Ciudad Obregón is a city in southern Sonora. It is the state's second largest city after Hermosillo and serves as the municipal seat of Cajeme. As of 2020, the city has a population of 436,484. Ciudad Obregón is south of the country's U.S.â ...
,
Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...
. A third Brewery in
Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the States of Mexico, Mexican state of Baja California. The city, which is the seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali, Cale ...
Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...
was never finished due to environmental issues. Instead, Constellation is building its third brewery in
Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
, Mexico.


History


Early days

The company was established in 1945 by Marvin Sands in the Finger Lakes 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 (; ) is a brand of kosher products founded in 1888 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and best known for its Matzah, matzo and kosher wine. It became a public corporation in 1923 but remained under family control until January 1991, when it was ...
winery in Canandaigua, New York, and continues to license the Manischewitz name from R.A.B. Foods.


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 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, Inglenook Winery, and the Paul Masson winery in
Madera, California Madera (Spanish language, Spanish for "Lumber") is a city in and the county seat of Madera County, California, Madera County, located in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Founded in 1876 as a timber town at the terminus of a major logging f ...
, 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 William ...
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, known as AB InBev, is an American-Belgian Multinational corporation, multinational Drink industry, drink and brewing company, brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium. It is the largest brewer in the world, and in 20 ...
, who were required to divest the business as a part of an anti-trust settlement permitting Anheuser-Busch InBev to acquire Grupo Modelo. Constellation had formerly imported Corona and other Modelo brands to the United States. 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; an 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. It now manufactures these products in Mexico for the US market, with Grupo Modelo serving all other countries. In 2014, Constellation finalized a joint venture with Owens-Illinois 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 Park City is a city in Utah, United States. Most of the city is within Summit County, Utah, Summit County, with some portions extending into Wasatch County, Utah, Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is sou ...
. 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 Inc. is an American multinational company with operations in private equity, alternative asset management and financial services. As of 2023, the company had $426 billion of assets under management. Carlyle specializes in ...
. 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 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 acquired craft spirits producer Copper & Kings American Brandy. In February 2022, Constellation was reported to have approached Monster Beverage to enter into a merger with a combined valuation above $90 billion. In 2023, Constellation Brands sold Funky Buddha back to its founders. On June 24, 2024, Constellation Brands re-located its headquarters to a 170,000 square foot campus on the site of the historic Aqueduct Building in Downtown Rochester, the first Fortune 500 company to operate in the city in two decades.


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, 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. Since 2023, Constellation started stepping back from the cannabis-infused drinks market. reducing the stake in Canopy Growth Corporation and signalled that it could withdraw completely.


Controversies

In 1991, the company reached a consent agreement with the
Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...
to change the packaging and marketing of Cisco wine after the FTC alleged that Cisco's marketing was deceptively similar to wine coolers despite Cisco having a much higher alcohol content. In 2010, a French court in Carcassonne, France, convicted 12 wine traders and producers, including Constellation, for selling fake
pinot noir Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...
wine to US buyers in a scheme that lasted from January 2006 to March 2008. Constellation later faced and settled a class action lawsuit 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. The water was from the Colorado River, which not only supplies the water for Mexicali and the agricultural valley but is also piped to the mountain and coastal cities of Tijuana, Tecate, Rosarito and some areas of Ensenada. In 2021,
AB InBev Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, known as AB InBev, is an American-Belgian Multinational corporation, multinational Drink industry, drink and brewing company, brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium. It is the largest brewer in the world, and in 20 ...
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 1945 establishments in New York (state) Drink companies of the United States Family-owned companies of the United States Spirit drinks manufacturers