Big Beer prices climb high in U.S. restaurants and bars, craft posts only modest increases

Restaurant Sciences is the premier provider of syndicated data and insights on food and beverage consumption in restaurants, bars, nightclubs and other foodservice establishments. The company delivers market share, market basket, competitive analysis, pricing, promotional, trend, segmentation and custom analytics to food and beverage manufacturers and distributors, as well as Craft Brewing Business.

Restaurant Sciences just recently released a press release that noted the high-volume premium and sub-premium beers popular in America — names like Budweiser, Coors Light, Miller Lite, Pabst Blue Ribbon, etc. — have seen a 3.5 to 6.8 percent price jump in the nation’s eating and drinking establishments over the past seven months (October 12 through April 13). The accompanying chart shows the increases by price segment.

“While all the attention has been on craft [Ultra-Premium] beers, the price of mainstay brands in the mid-price [Premium] tier have risen more dramatically,” said Chuck Ellis, the president at Restaurant Sciences. “And traditionally lower-priced beers such as Pabst Blue Ribbon have seen sizeable double-digit price increases in both restaurants and bars and nightclubs. In fact, the only segment of the restaurant industry holding the price line on these beers is the value-conscious Family Dining segment, with average per-party checks under $40.

“Across all restaurant and bar segments, and all beverage alcohol categories, the one constant is rapidly increasing prices in the fine-dining tier. This segment had some of the hardest-hit establishments in the last recession, and average drink prices there are increasing with a vengeance.”

Once again, awesome info from Restaurant Sciences, which transforms over $1 billion per month in guest check-level sales information into detailed data and insights across all segments of the foodservice landscape in the United States and Canada. Insights are delivered online through their business intelligence tool, through custom analytics or through Craft Brewing Business.