Craft beer has developed into a mature market as its growth continues to decline. Beer, as a whole, is falling in popularity in the United States and craft may not be escaping the trend. Many consumers are turning their attention to spirits and new varieties of flavored alcoholic beverages. Younger consumers are increasingly interested in non-alcoholic beverages. Craft beer, as a higher priced beverage, is also suffering the effects of consumers tightening their belts as inflation has continued to rise.
A maturing market
After a significant decline in production in 2020,
craft beer volume amounted to about 24.8 million barrels in 2021, not quite pre-pandemic levels. Unfortunately, 2022 has actually seen a reversal of the previous year’s rebound. Even though the industry has reached an all-time high in brewery facilities, most of the gains in terms of facilities have been in tap rooms, smaller venues defined by the Brewers Association as breweries that sell 25 percent or more of their beer on site with no significant food service. In terms of brands, New Belgium, which was acquired by the Japanese beverage giant, Kirin, in 2019 was the
leading craft beer in the United States in 2022. In that year,
California boasted over 900 craft breweries, the most of any U.S. state.
Stagnating popularity
The popularity of
beer has been on a downward trend for some time now with consumers gravitating towards spirits and spirits-based beverages. On top of this, craft is no longer gobbling up
market share from the non-craft beer market. Beer has also not been able to enjoy the boom in e-commerce sales since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Online beer sales have a penetration rate of just 1.4 percent compared to wine which enjoys a rate of 8.6 percent. The major cause for this discrepancy is beer's comparative lack of availability in direct-to-consumer sales due to a different regulatory status than wine. Young consumers, in particular, would be very interested in purchasing craft beer through the direct-to-consumer channel. It remains to be seen if the industry can find ways to entice the next generation of consumers to take part in craft beer.
Gen Z is more interested in pursuing alcohol alternatives generally than any other generation in the United States.
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