Craft beer slowdown is real and getting worse

8 Responses to “Craft beer slowdown is real and getting worse”

1. Peter Gasca says:

   January 17, 2016 at 5:12 pm

   A slow down is not necessarily bad, as it just may be a cooling of entrants who shouldn’t be there anyway. What will be more interesting and significant is the rate of closures and mergers.

   Reply
2. G. Thomas says:

   January 18, 2016 at 2:49 pm

   For those hard core craft believers it’s a case of the “Emperors’ new clothes”. What you see here is a natural progression of the business. There are Craft brands in the market right now that have no long term strategic plan and therefore are bound to drop out. It would seem (so far at least) that the brands that are willing to merge/JV with larger Brewers are the ones that will show significant progress moving into the future. It won’t make them “sell outs” just savvy businessmen who have a larger dream.

   Reply
3. Dan says:

   January 18, 2016 at 4:19 pm

   I agree completely. On one end there will be larger (and partnered) brands like Lagunitas and Founders; on the other will be truly local, single-market guys. It’s the ones in between who’ll get squeezed.

   Reply
4. Steve says:

   January 19, 2016 at 2:34 am

   Craft beers have gotten too numerous and too expensive, of course consumers will opt for other choices such as wine, mixed drinks, or a lower-priced common beers. I find the cost of these fermented cereals offensive- the ingredients are cheap commodities (often government-subsidized at that,) they can be made anywhere, and year-round. Further, the last time I checked out the craft beer section, I found most labels were either gimmicky or offensive. These desperate ploys to get a consumer to try their product is a sure sign of too many brands. Bringing my point full circle, I predicted BigBeer would get hurt by micros in 1993. With time, BigBeer decided to align with successful brands of “micros” or “craft beers.” Smart… adapt they did and the explosion of craft beers will freeze. In time, balance will be found. If BigBeer wants to maintain or grow market share, keep the price down.

   Reply
5. Xavier says:

   January 19, 2016 at 10:18 pm

   Although it seems disingenuous to claim there is a trend when looking at only two years of data, the number of taps are finite as is retail shelf space, Micros banking on distribution will eventually find their markets more competitive and growth is bound to slow, it’s inevitable but that dynamic varies by region. Brewpubs able to survive on walk in business (and not distribution alone) can still flourish in the years to come and weather the inevitable shake out. Markets are cyclical, always have been and always will be.

   Reply
6. Aaron says:

   January 20, 2016 at 7:45 pm

   I’m not sure these statistics say what you have concluded they say.
   4.3% growth in a single 4-week period? Wouldn’t that equate to almost 73% annual growth, were it to continue?
   Also, 10.2% growth for the first 6 months of 2015 is actually a higher growth rate than 20% for 2014
   Finally, while the 11-month 2015 total does show that there was a slump, the rest of the stats contradict it as a trend.
   In summary, these growth rates imply the following:
   In 2014, craft beer volume sales went up 20%. In the first half of 2015, they were on pace to exceed that (by about 5.5%). Then there was a slump in the second half of the year until December, when sales had an uptick that would represent a dramatic increase if it continues.

   Reply
7. HeyBeerDan says:

   January 21, 2016 at 10:18 am

   All growth rates shown are annualized. (I have re-labeled the titles on the chart in the original article to clarify this, but the data is unchanged.)

   Nielsen growth-rate data is always presented as an annualized percentage. As a result, while the time periods covered may vary (and therefore have more or less validity individually depending on the length of the time period), the growth rates are indeed comparable. And in this case, they show a clear downward trend over two year’s time.

   Reply
8. Basnet says:

   March 12, 2016 at 12:48 pm

   “The number of breweries in the U.S. hit 4,144 at the end of November, surpassing the 4,131 at the beer industry’s height in 1873.
   Given that there are 270 million more Americans now than in 1873, craft beer still has plenty of room to grow, said Bart Watson, chief economist for the Brewers Association.” – The Columbus Dispatch

   As much as the craft beer market is slowing down, sooner or later the industry will tap into the consumers of the giants (example: AB InBev, SABMiller). This is the beginning of the Craft Beer revolution. There is always an exponential growth in the start, which is now coming down, although it will still keep a mild growth. Craft beer market share consists of 20% of all beer consumed in the States. Consumers will find the right beer for their taste which will not be watered down products that advertisements have embedded into our minds.

   Reply