Craft Beer Growth is GOOD!

Craft Beer, what could I say that all the experts haven’t already said about its’ double-digit growth and “no-end-in-sight” potential?  I could lay out sales statistics such as the categories 21% sales growth in the last 52 weeks.  Perhaps calling out regional growth to include southeast at 24.7%, mid-west at 23.9% and south central U.S. at 19.7% might raise an eyebrow or two?  Actually there’s no mystery to the regional growth since the industry was practically born in California and the Pacific north-west which have only seen single-digit growth for the same time period. 

Let’s take a hint from that regional growth and drill down to the local level for a brief history lesson.  Before the time of the mass-brewers, when the U.S. itself was still in “growth mode”, each city or town had its’ own local brewery, perhaps more than one if the location was large enough to support them.  If the local population was of a particular ethnicity or social group the brewery may have produced a beer styled after those of “the old country” which covered a lot of ground from Europe alone.

Given that these local breweries catered to their municipal clientele everybody was doing their happy dance but then something happened, mass marketing hit the fan when national newspapers, magazines and especially radio came onto the scene.  Once marketers had a national audience they needed beer products that would appeal to the largest audience possible and the birth of the non-descript American lager came to be.  Those who could produce the “least offensive” beer at the lowest cost became the new industry giants and with their efficiency at distribution, growth of railroads and trucking could have their largely “shelf-stable” beer to market in less than a month.

BRAVO for the “Beer-Industrial-Complex” and their ability to produce and market a narrow flavor profile beer(s) to a thirsty, growing nation who was partly to blame since the mass-produced beers were less expensive and we all know how America enjoys a good value, wink, wink.  So now we have the new dawn of the craft beer and brewer and America see’s that it is good.  We have come full circle where new local craft breweries are cropping up across the country to produce unique brews fashioned for the growing crowd of new beer aficionados.  Local craft brewing will continue to grow and the mass brewers will struggle to hold onto market share to the point of purchasing some of those local and regional brewers or their brands or both.

The American beer drinking audience has finally come of age and realized or rediscovered what they knew to be the correct way to consume beer, at a high quality level perhaps in smaller amounts with little mass-consumption quaffing.  We welcome the growth of the craft brewer and their beers of notability and encourage their continued success.  At The Menu Spring we follow trends in the food and beverage industries and bring this information to our clients in combination with our partners 100+ years of experience to provide them with the best possible information for their unique operations.  We look forward to sharing our insights with you as well.