• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • About Craft Brewing Business

Craft Brewing Business

Professional Insight, Unfiltered

Craft Brewing Business Craft Brewing Business
  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment & Systems
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • COVID-19

Ohio Craft Brewers Association releases economic impact study (11% decline in craft beer production volume in 2020)

June 23, 2021Pretty Much a Press Release

The COVID-19 pandemic derailed years of steady growth in Ohio’s craft brewing industry, according to the Ohio Craft Brewers Association’s biennial economic impact study. The state’s independent craft breweries were responsible for a total economic impact of $880.7 million in 2020, a decline from the $967.1 million generated in 2018. The study, commissioned by the association and conducted by Silverlode Consulting, reports an 8.9 percent decrease in economic impact and an 11 percent decline in craft beer production volume attributable to the pandemic, but an increase in the number of operating breweries and the number of people directly employed by them.

Ohio’s craft beer industry was on a significant upswing through the end of 2019, with economic impact estimated at nearly $1 billion and growing. However, the COVID-19 pandemic dealt a difficult blow to small breweries, many of which rely on by-the-glass taproom sales to drive their bottom lines. Decreased customer traffic, coupled with a shift to less profitable carry out and delivery sales, caused craft’s dollar share of the beer market to dip 22 percent nationally in 2020, according to a report by the Brewers Association.

Even with the tremendous challenges brought on by the pandemic, 2020 saw 47 new craft breweries open in Ohio, bringing the year-end total to a record 357. According to the Ohio Craft Brewers Association study, the state’s breweries directly employed 6,247 people in 2020, up from 6,085 in 2018. This increase is particularly notable considering the labor shortage that hospitality and service sector businesses have been forced to contend with over the past year.

More than 70 percent of the breweries that participated in the survey indicated that they plan to increase beer production over the next two years. Approximately half of the survey respondents plan a facility expansion during the same time frame. Survey respondents reported more than $1.7 million in charitable donations made in 2020, up from $1.15 million in 2018, despite revenue declines caused by the pandemic.

“Craft breweries really struggled to weather the effects of the pandemic, and the fight isn’t over yet,” said OCBA Executive Director Mary MacDonald. “Emergency relief funds and targeted changes to laws and regulations helped many of our breweries survive, but small businesses need continued support if we’re going to see a successful recovery. The economic disruption caused by COVID was massive, unprecedented and affected small businesses disproportionally. The craft brewing industry is unlikely to return to normal until 2022 at the earliest. However, our breweries’ plans to increase production and expand their facilities give us some hope in the near term.”

The full economic impact study report is available at ohiocraftbeer.org.

Harvest Hosts
Breweries that host RV travelers via Harvest Hosts can earn some extra cash
Dunes Brewing - NFT Mug Club
Dunes Brewing launches NFT Mug Club with virtual and tangible things of value
brewery-NFTs
Marketing idea of the week: Three Denver breweries launch NFT for IRL event
Lasting Joy Brewery opens in Tivoli, N.Y., this weekend, and it looks spectacular

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Latest News

  • We’re on vacation this week, so enjoy 25 of the best posts of 2022 (so far)
  • Beers to know this Fourth of July, including creamsicles, Cold IPAs and rescue dogs
  • Photos: After a three year hiatus, Savor returns to DC, rocks out cool new concert venue
  • Hey Vermont non-profits, Lawson’s Finest Liquids is accepting applicants for its 2023 Sunshine Fund

Sign up for our newsletter

unsubscribe from list

Most Popular Today

Recent Features

  • We’re on vacation this week, so enjoy 25 of the best posts of 2022 (so far)
    July 6, 2022
  • Fam vaca fam in background_2-001Beers to know this Fourth of July, including creamsicles, Cold IPAs and rescue dogs
    July 4, 2022
  • Photos: After a three year hiatus, Savor returns to DC, rocks out cool new concert venue
    July 1, 2022
  • People moves: Ohio Craft Brewers Association tap new board members + news from Migration, Bell’s, New Belgium and MobCraft
    June 30, 2022
  • A behind the scenes look at branding a startup brewery
    June 28, 2022
  • robot beer salesThe future of retail beer sales is here
    June 27, 2022

Footer

  • Email Newsletter Sign Up
  • About Craft Brewing Business
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise on Craft Brewing Business
  • Media Kit Download
  • Privacy and Terms

© 2022 · CBB Media LLC

Posting....