Constellation Brands facts for kids
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Constellation Brands' former headquarters in Victor, New York.
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| Public | |
| Traded as | |
| Industry | Beverages |
| Predecessor | Canandaigua Brands Inc |
| Founded | 1945 |
| Founder | Marvin Sands |
| Headquarters |
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U.S.
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Number of locations
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United States, Mexico, New Zealand, Italy, Canada |
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Key people
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Rob Sands (Chairman) Richard Sands (Vice Chairman) Bill Newlands (CEO) |
| Products | Wine, beer, and spirits |
| Revenue |  US$9.355 billion (2021) |
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Operating income
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US$2.791 billion (2021) |
| US$2.031 billion (2021) |
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| Total assets |  US$27.104 billion (2021) |
| Total equity | US$13.921 billion (2021) |
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Number of employees
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9,300 (2021) |
| Divisions |
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Constellation Brands, Inc. is a large American company that makes and sells beer, wine, and spirits for adults. It is a Fortune 500 company, which means it is one of the biggest companies in the United States.
Constellation is the largest company that imports beer into the U.S. based on sales. It has the third-largest share of the American beer market. The company is based in Rochester, New York, and has around 9,000 employees working at about 40 different locations.
The company owns over 100 different brands. Some of its well-known wine brands include Robert Mondavi, Kim Crawford, and Meiomi. Its beer brands include the U.S. rights to Corona, Modelo Especial, and Pacífico. It also owns spirits brands like Casa Noble Tequila and High West Whiskey.
Contents
Company History
How It All Started
The company began in 1945 in the Finger Lakes area of New York. It was started by Marvin Sands and was first called Canandaigua Industries. In the beginning, it sold large amounts of wine to other companies that would put it in bottles. In its first year, the company sold about 200,000 gallons of wine.
The company officially became Canandaigua Wine Company, Inc. in 1972. It became a public company in 1973, which means people could buy shares of it on the stock market. Marvin's son, Richard Sands, became the company's president in 1993. Marvin Sands passed away in 1999.
Growing the Business
In 2000, the company changed its name to Constellation Brands. This new name was chosen to show how much the company had grown. It now owned a "constellation" of many different brands. Marvin's other son, Rob Sands, became the CEO in 2007.
Throughout the 2000s, Constellation Brands bought many other companies. This is a process called acquisition.
- 2003: It bought BRL Hardy from Australia and Nobilo from New Zealand.
- 2004: It bought the Robert Mondavi company for $1 billion.
- 2006: It bought Vincor International, Canada's biggest wine company.
- 2007: It bought the owner of Svedka Vodka.
- 2008: It bought the wine part of Fortune Brands for $885 million.
Later, the company decided to focus more on high-quality wines. It sold some of its less expensive wine brands. In 2021, it sold 30 of these brands to E. & J. Gallo for $810 million.
Focus on Beer
A major change happened in 2013. Constellation bought the U.S. beer business from a company called Anheuser-Busch InBev. This deal gave Constellation the right to sell popular Mexican beer brands like Corona and Modelo in the United States.
As part of the deal, Constellation took full control of the U.S. business. It also got a brewery in Mexico. This means Constellation now makes these beers in Mexico just for the U.S. market.
In December 2015, Constellation bought Ballast Point Brewing, a popular craft brewery from San Diego, for $1 billion. However, it sold Ballast Point in 2019.
New Headquarters
On June 24, 2024, Constellation Brands moved its main office. The new headquarters is a large campus in downtown Rochester, New York. This made it the first Fortune 500 company to have its main office in the city in twenty years.
Breweries in Mexico
Constellation Brands runs two large breweries in Mexico. These breweries produce the Corona and Modelo beers that are sold in the United States. One brewery is in Nava, Coahuila, and the other is in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora.
The company planned to build a third brewery in Mexicali, but the project was stopped because of concerns about the environment. Instead, Constellation is now building its third brewery in a different part of Mexico called Veracruz.
