Business

Budweiser losing the battle with craft beers

This Bud’s for you — no, really.

Anheuser-Busch InBev is having a tough time getting millennials to crack open a can of Budweiser.

The world’s biggest brewer said Thursday that falling unemployment and “premium” brands are boosting overall beer sales in the US, its biggest market.

But the company is struggling to market Bud — the 139-year-old American brand with blue-collar roots — to younger drinkers, who prefer craft brews and bourbon.

“We do not expect to stabilize Bud in the US in the short term,” Chief Financial Officer Felipe Dutra told reporters. “We have been repositioning the brand and making it more relevant for younger adults, but it’s not an easy task.”

Bud’s US market share fell to 8.7 percent in 2013, down from 14.3 percent in 2005, according to data tracker Euromonitor.

The brand is turning to overseas markets such as China and Brazil for growth, with foreign sales now accounting for 60 percent of all Bud consumed.

The Leuven, Belgium-based owner of the label plans to boost sales and marketing spending by as much as 9 percent this year, three times the increase analysts expected, according to Bloomberg News.

While Budweiser is famous for its feel-good Super Bowl ads featuring the Clydesdale horses, the brand tried a new tack this year by mocking craft varieties like peach pumpkin ale.

The spot fell flat with consumers, who took to Twitter and other social media to slap the mass brewer for the “anti-craft” pitch.