Daily Caller Publishes CASE Report on AB InBev Market Share and U.S. Brewery Closures

The Daily Caller obtained and published a report on July 3, 2026, from the watchdog group Consumer Action for a Strong Economy examining foreign ownership in the U.S. beer market. The document focuses on Anheuser-Busch InBev, which it describes as the world's largest brewer and the controller of nearly half the domestic market.

InBev, a Belgian-Brazilian company, acquired Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion in 2008. The combined company is now headquartered in Leuven, Belgium, and its U.S. portfolio includes Budweiser and Michelob ULTRA.

AB InBev spent millions on federal lobbying, according to the CASE report. The company announced in December 2025 that it would close its Fairfield, California brewery by February 22, 2026, affecting 240 employees after 50 years. It also plans to sell a plant in New Jersey and close a brewery in New Hampshire.

In 2013 AB InBev reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice that allowed its $20 billion acquisition of a controlling interest in Grupo Modelo on the condition that U.S. rights to Modelo beer be sold to Constellation Brands.

Any Modelo beer purchased in the United States is legally owned by Constellation Brands. The number of domestic small and independent craft brewers rose from 4,803 in 2015 to 9,578 in 2025, the report states. AB InBev often incentivizes major distributors to prioritize its products, and in some states small brewers are barred from self-distribution.

AB InBev is lobbying U.S. states to repeal sales taxes on its products and intends to seek similar relief at the federal level during renegotiation of the 2020 United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. In 2015 then-CEO Carlos Brito testified before the Senate Committee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights on the company's $107 billion merger with SABMiller.