Just Drinks: Recession-Proof Craft Breweries Thriving In Sluggish N. American Beer Market

BROMSGROVE, England, October 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ —

A brand new report has confirmed that the North American premium beer market remains sluggish as the effects of the economic slump continue to be felt.

With sales of 6.42m kl in 2011, North America is the world’s second largest consumer of premium beer but growth has been dampened by the prevailing ‘state of stagnation’, falling consumer spending and high unemployment among the core young working-class male market.

The report entitled ‘Premium Beer in North America – Forecast to 2016‘ is the second in a series and was published earlier this week by IWSR and just-drinks.com. It confirms that ‘US lobbyist the Beer Institute declared a 2% year-on-year rise in total retail beer sales to US$98bn.’

Looking Strong at 5.7%…

Also revealed is the fact that this growth is largely attributable to the thriving craft beers. This rapidly emerging sector is defined by independent, traditional and small producers brewing less than 5m barrels or 845,573kl of beer per annum.

Interestingly, consumers now appear to be shunning mass-produced, medium-quality lagers and are showing an increasing preference for the alternative, higher-quality and unique-tasting brands marketed by microbrewers. So much so that craft breweries now command a 5.7% share of the total US beer market.

This trend was endorsed by one executive with Boston Beer who explained, ‘We’re lucky to be in the middle of a big growth curve for craft beer and I’m glad to see the industry growing. Craft beer is entering the mainstream.’

Diversification a Successful Recipe for the Major Players…

Elsewhere, the top four brewers have been forced to adapt and innovate after being presented with challenging conditions since the downturn began in 2008.

Each has diversified into new markets and new product ranges. Budding local breweries have been acquired, flagship brands licensed out to contract brewers and prominent marketing and sponsorship initiatives deployed to quickly establish new brands.

The larger manufacturers have also sought to emulate the success of the craft breweries by coaxing regular customers away from mainstream brands and towards their premium offerings.

Despite its recent problems, the industry does remain optimistic, and a SABMiller executive summed up the views of many producers when commenting that ‘no business or industry should expect to return to the previous status quo of yesteryear but we do believe that the US beer market will return to growth.’

Read the full report: ‘Premium Beer in North America – Forecast to 2016‘ at just-drinks.

About just-drinks.com

Established in 1999, just-drinks is a leading online resource for the global beverage industry, publishing around 20 news articles, analysis features and insights every working day. Under the direction of managing editor Olly Wehring, its experienced team of journalists, consultants and analysts provide a unique and comprehensive blend of reports and interpretation of the beverage industry, including key events, trends, interviews and research that is delivered to over 92,000 business executives per month.

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