Mexican Imports Brew Success in the U.S.

Constellation Brands’ Modelo and Corona brands are driving the beer industry’s import category.

At the 2022 NACS State of the Industry Summit, Mexican imports were put on blast—in a good way.  

“You can’t read an industry article without it mentioning the growth of imports, specifically Mexican imports, and then specifically Modelo,” said Julie Farmer, adult beverage category manager at Circle K.  

Farmer noted that Modelo was the top brand at Circle K stores in Nevada and second-most popular in Arizona—and growing. “If you haven’t experienced the rise of Mexican imports in your area, it’s coming,” she said back in 2022. 

Farmer was spot on. Circana data for convenience stores showed that Mexican imports grew by $1.86 billion in the past three years (2022-2024), with Constellation Brands’ Modelo Especial label responsible for 58% of that growth. Sales of Modelo in 2023 were over $3 million in c-stores, up nearly 15% from 2022 (2024 data will be revealed at the upcoming NACS State of the Industry Summit), according to NIQ data.  

In May 2023, Modelo Especial became the top-grossing beer in off-premise channels. Constellation owns four popular Mexican import brands: Modelo, Corona, Pacifico and Victoria. 

Constellation purchased Modelo over a decade ago and credited the brand to its success in 2024. The brand upheld its No.1 beer position in the U.S. by dollar sales, and reached “an extraordinary milestone of 200 million cases sold in a 52-week period.” Meanwhile, Corona Extra held the No. 1 spot as the “most-loved” U.S. beer brand among general market and Hispanic consumers. The company is also seeing “rapidly rising success” for Pacifico and Victoria. 

“Hispanic consumers are the single most important consumer group for our beer business,” Mallika Monteiro, executive vice president and managing director for Constellation’s beer brands, told CNBC. “It has been the foundation of how we’ve been able to drive growth over the last 14 years.” 

The number of Hispanics in the U.S. represent about 20% of the total population, per the U.S. Census. Between 2014 and 2022, Hispanic households experienced the highest growth in household income—rising 29%, according to Forbes, which added that Hispanic spending power soared nearly 80% between 2014 and 2024.   

Even with the backing of a loyal following, Mexican imports have broad appeal among consumers.  

“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,” said Scott Scanlon, executive vice president, alcoholic beverages at Circana, in the October 2024 issue of NACS Magazine.  

So how is Constellation reaching consumers outside its loyal Hispanic consumer base? For one example, look at sports.   

Modelo has been a long-standing partner of the Concacaf Gold Cup since 2017, and was the official beer sponsor of the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the U.S. from 2017-2023.  

In 2022, Corona became the official “cerveza” of Major League Baseball, and in 2024, Modelo was the “official import beer” of the New York City Football Club. 

Last year, Constellation upped the ante on its college football sponsorship that began in 2021. Modelo was once again the Official Beer Sponsor of the College Football Playoff with a “Team Modelo” campaign that rewarded the most dedicated fans a trip to the January 20, 2025, championship game between Ohio State and Notre Dame.  

Staying on college athletics, Modelo was the title sponsor of the 2024 Modelo Vegas Kickoff Classic football game between USC and LSU at Allegiant Stadium. 

Even with its popularity and growth, Constellation isn’t sitting still on innovating its popular brands. The company launched the low-calorie/low-carb Modelo Oro in 2023, which caught on quickly in c-stores. Scanlon noted in NACS Magazine that c-stores account for 36% of Modelo Oro’s dollar sales, while the channel represents 70% of Modelo Especial dollar sales. 

Modelo Oro will have stiff competition from a brand that has seen a recent surge since launching in 2002: AB InBev’s Michelob Ultra.  

While Mexican imports are on the rise—we’d be remiss not to mention Dos Equis, Sol, Carta Blanca, Indio, Noche Buena, Bohemia and Tecate— keep an eye on how Constellation’s competitors will respond.  

And don’t take your eye of the import category overall ... Heineken, Guinness, Labatt, Becks, Chimay, Carlsberg, Paulaner, Peroni, Asahi and Sapporo …  

Cheers!  

(Editor’s note: At the beginning of February, President Donald Trump announced an additional 25% tariff on imports from on Mexico; he paused implementing the tariffs by one month.)