Will Latinos Drink Beer, Or Cerveza?

Latino beer drinkers in the U.S. still haven’t placed their loyalties when it comes to beer brands, according to a new report from AdAge. The report notes that, while Latinos tend to drink about 75% domestic brands, the rest of the pie has yet to be fully divided.

It’s interesting to note that, while we’ve written about the coming of age for Latino youth as they become a formidable voting bloc, in the beer world this also means that Latinos will become a big market of beer consumers. AdAge notes:

The percentage of drinking-age adults who are Hispanic is expected to grow from 16% in 2010 to 23% in 2030 and 30% by 2050, according to Census data cited by Crown. And beer is by far the alcoholic beverage of choice of marketers. But beer is different. Unlike soft drinks, for instance, where American brands have mass international appeal, beer is still a local product in many places, with brands linked to cultures, traditions and even patriotism. (Consider that Coke has a 24.6% international market share, while Snow — the world’s biggest beer brand though sold solely in China — commands only 4.5% of the global market, according to Euromonitor International.)

In the States, American beer brands control roughly 75% of the Hispanic market, leveraging their size and massive ad spending, according to brewers. Still, imports overindex with the demographic, commanding about a 25% share, compared with 13% among non-Hispanics, according to Nielsen data…

The gist: Latinos mean big money. Check out what else AdAge reported about beer companies:

• Anheuser-Busch spent $56 million, 10% of its media, on Latino marketing last year
• MillerCoors spent $45 million, or 11.4% of its total media on the same

The upshot is that these companies want to gain the brand loyalty of the $1 trillion-plus Latino market in the U.S. as soon as possible to begin cashing in not only on the emerging youth, but to retain that brand loyalty for future generations.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD