Craft beer makes up 75% of the $100 billion US beer market. That is a huge percentage, but it is slipping. Craft beer captured $14.3 billion of that market. The US Congress is excited about the burgeoning market. They have developed the Small BREW Act and hope to pass it, giving further support to our small breweries. The trends are all pointing towards a sustained craft brew resurgence.
U.S. store sales of craft beer surged 11.8 percent in the year to late December and gained 2.7 points of market share in four years, while the largest beer markets, economy and premium light, have fallen by 4.0 and 2.3 points respectively, said Andrea Riberi, senior vice president at research group Nielsen.
But Big Beer is responding to this market decline by using it’s cash flow to pick up established microbreweries
AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer, has responded in the past year with the purchase of two more small craft producers on the east and west coasts – Blue Point and 10 Barrels.
AB InBev’s November purchase of 10 Barrels (sic) in craft hot house Oregon prompted a burst of comment on social media, some calling it a “sellout” and threatening to boycott its brands, including its flagship Toasted Lager.
Big beer’s biggest shares in the craft beer market are in Shock Top and Blue Moon, but those are seeing diminishing growth.
(G)rowth of AB InBev’s Shock Top and Goose Island had slowed sharply since national roll-outs, in the case of Shock Top to a high single-digit percentage last year, compared to an average rate of 15-17 percent for a craft beer.
At this point, it looks like Big Beer is relying on gimmicks like altering bottles to gain market share and entering into the beer delivery market. Read more about this from the original article on Reuters.
