CNBC’s “Mad Money with Jim Cramer” rarely is short on advice when it comes to the next hot stock. For the beer market, the release and sales of numerous hard sodas and seltzers helped contribute to the “hot” performance of the flavored malt beverage (FMB)/progressive adult beverage (PAB) segment in 2016. In Nielsen-measured channels, FMBs were up 5.9 percent in volume and 7.4 percent in dollar sales for the 52 weeks ending Dec. 31, 2016.
“The segment continues to be a growth opportunity for brewers and can easily leverage new and different flavor offerings to keep drinkers satisfied, particularly younger [legal-drinking-age] (LDA) [consumers] seeking to explore through flavors,” says Danelle Kosmal, vice president of beverage alcohol practice for New York-based Nielsen.