…and the U.S. craft beer segment continues to rise in market share, as cited by the Brewers Association’s recently released industry sales figures from 2008.
But the shift to more fully flavored, locally produced beers doesn’t come without its challenges. According to the group, smaller microbreweries and brewpubs continue to face hurdles such as:
- Access to ingredients and raw materials
- Increased pricing for materials and supplies
- Access to market (competition for shelf space at the retail level)
The cost of operating a small brewery also increased more than 39 percent in the period of November 2007 to November 2008, according to the industry tracking firm.
So while it’s getting tougher to be a smaller brewer, it seems the hard work is paying off, at least when taken as a whole. Take that BudMillerCoors.
February 23, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Very cool. Interesting contrast to this info from FiveThirtyEight, though.
And don’t forget Michelob; they should take that too.
February 23, 2009 at 4:26 pm
That is interesting John. Based on the data from the Brewers Association, I’d wager a guess that higher quality beers are less affected by the downturn, since people that buy them are generally not basing their purchase decision on price factor. Everything I’ve heard anecdotally from folks like Alvey at the Four Firkins is that business is booming. I think macro beers, on the other hand, are largely driven by this consideration. But I’m no economist, so who knows.
I’d also be interested to see Silver do a similar correlation to the number of people that took up homebrewing in the most recent quarter compared to the 14 percent drop in overall sales. Not that it would account for much of it, if any, but it would be interesting. Actually, I think homebrewing tends to promote an increase in commercial beer sales.
February 23, 2009 at 4:58 pm
I would be too. I can’t really imagine how you could capture the number of homebrewers though. I’m sure there’s a way.
March 18, 2009 at 12:29 pm
[...] of alternatives like wine or spirits, and smart entrepreneurs are recognizing the opportunity. Recent sales numbers from the National Brewers Association seem to back that [...]