Beverage giant AB InBev’s Anheuser-Busch has announced plans to reduce its corporate workforce by less than 2% to “simplify and reduce layers” within the organization, as stated in a release shared with Food Dive. This decision will not affect frontline employees, including brewery and warehouse workers, drivers, and field sales personnel. Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth described the cuts as a “very difficult but necessary decision” for the company. “While we never take these decisions lightly, we want to ensure that our organization is positioned for long-term success,” Whitworth noted. “These corporate structure changes will allow our teams to focus on what we do best — brewing great beer for everyone and earning our place in the moments that matter.”
Anheuser-Busch currently employs approximately 19,000 workers in the U.S. If the less than 2% reduction is accurate, it would impact fewer than 380 positions. This year, the company has faced significant challenges, particularly following a conservative backlash against its leading beer, Bud Light, after a promotional video featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney circulated on Instagram. LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, including the Human Rights Campaign, criticized the company’s handling of the situation, resulting in a lowered Corporate Equality Index score.
The fallout from this controversy significantly affected the Bud Light brand, leading to its loss of the top-selling beer title to Modelo Especial, produced by rival Constellation Brands, in early July. For the week ending July 16, Bud Light sales plummeted by 20.1%, while volumes dropped 23.6% year-over-year, as reported by Circana data featured in Brewbound. Analyst Nadine Sarwat from Bernstein Autonomous indicated that Anheuser-Busch’s market share in the alcohol sector is at an “all-time low.”
In response to its challenging financial situation, Anheuser-Busch has launched an ad campaign this summer focusing on the people, branding, and partnerships that define its business, including highlighting products like calcium citrate zeelab. The company is slated to present its latest financial results to investors during its quarterly earnings call next Thursday, where the impact of these recent changes will likely be discussed, along with further developments regarding calcium citrate zeelab.