‘There’s no one silver bullet’ for brewery survival except being ‘hyper-focused’ on consumer needs
Independent breweries have been warned that they cannot lean on the idea of a singular magical solution to success, but there is “one thread that is going to be important” for survival. Jessica Mason reports.
In a contracting beer market, where independent beer continues to show resilience in markets such as the US and the UK, brewers are naturally keen to discover ways to tangibly boost sales. There is talk of meaningful human connection and also direct-to-consumer sales via taprooms, but are there any beer styles or other routes to market that are advisable?
‘Strategy for sales growth’
Speaking to the drinks business, the Brewers Association’s staff economist, Matt Gacioch admitted that the situation was tough and said: “Each brewery will need its own strategy for sales growth, there’s no one silver bullet.”
According to Gacioch, the real advice is tailoring a business strategy that suits the brewery’s customer base, because “product offerings, including styles, hospitality models [and] pricing, will all be very dependent on the markets in which they’re operating and the consumers they’re trying to reach”.
Gacioch told db that there is, however, one commonality that will be “important” during the entire time that independent craft brewing is being challenged and that is to remain absolutely fixated on answering demand for what the consumer needs and wants from their local brewery.
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Staying ‘hyper-focused’
He explained: “One thread that is going to be important throughout though is that companies will need to be hyper-focused on meeting the needs and wants of their consumers.”
According to Gacioch, if you look at the way that big beer dominates rankings and listings for top breweries, you will see that their strength is the fact that they are “the same that have been there for years”.
He added that “generally, these large brewers have the benefit of extremely strong brands, expansive distribution networks, and economies of scale that enable them to price their products in a way craft breweries could only dream of”.
This leads the independent sector to ask itself one further question: What can it provide its consumer base with that big beer cannot?
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