• 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

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

Five beer industry storylines heading into 2020

January 7, 2020Chris Crowell

Moss Adams is a professional services firm that assists clients, like craft breweries, with growing and managing their business. Its Craft Breweries Market Monitor is a nice recap on the events, trends, and market forces that shaped the industry over the year. Here are five takeaways. Feel free to check out the rest for yourself here.

1. M&A uptick

There has been a recent uptick in M&A activity, with some marque brands announcing deals, including Ballast Point (again), New Belgium Brewing and Craft Brew Alliance. However, Kings & Convicts Brewing’s acquisition of Ballast Point was rumored to be completed at a fraction of Constellation’s original purchase price of Ballast Point. Valuation multiples for completed transactions in 2019.

2. Openings vs. closings

Craft brewery openings continue to grow, outpacing prior projections; however, the continued increase of brewery closings reflects the headwinds facing smaller brewers.

3. Health, or whatever

The trend of consumers becoming more health-conscious spurred the explosive growth in the hard seltzer market, causing craft breweries to react with their own, low-calorie, low-alcohol variants such as Lagunitas’ 98 calorie DayTime IPA, Dogfish Head’s 95 calorie Slightly Mighty lo-cal IPA and Ballast Point’s 99 calorie lager.  This should help breweries compete with encroaching sales from the hard seltzer and kombucha markets, especially amongst younger consumers.

craft beer market share

4. Less alcohol

Currently, the low- or no-alcohol beer category makes up around 5 percent of beer volume worldwide. However, according to a GlobalData report, it is the fastest growing segment in the beer market, achieving a 4 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the last 5 years, as compared to a 0.2% CAGR for traditional beer over the same time period.  Similarly, AB InBev plans to generate around 20% of their overall sales from low- or no-alcohol brands by the end of 2025.

5. Fewer brands, too

Although the trend has been for craft breweries to offer a large portfolio of beers in order to appeal to a wider audience, Mike Stevens, co-founder of Founders Brewery, states the next change in the brewery market is for breweries “to focus on a narrowing handful of brands, not 28 brands, and spending money supporting those core brands.”

PR_CO_Strong_01_01122021
Colorado Strong launches public awareness campaign to help independent breweries
Here’s a video recap of 2020 from Deep Ellum Brewing, complete with dubstep score
Malt maker Rahr purchases all of eco energy maker Koda
Legacy-boots
Check out XTRATUF’s Legacy boots, perfect for work in the brewhouse

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Latest News

  • Beer rebrands continue: Ballast Point, Fremont, New Glory and Blue Point (also, enjoy some tips for your refresh)
  • Colorado Strong launches public awareness campaign to help independent breweries
  • Here’s a video recap of 2020 from Deep Ellum Brewing, complete with dubstep score
  • Malt maker Rahr purchases all of eco energy maker Koda

Sign up for our newsletter

unsubscribe from list

Most Popular Today

Recent Features

  • Beer rebrands continue: Ballast Point, Fremont, New Glory and Blue Point (also, enjoy some tips for your refresh)
    January 21, 2021
  • virginia-beer-co-renovationHow Virginia Beer Co. used the shutdown to overhaul its facility (and keep people employed)
    January 19, 2021
  • Clean air, clean beer: New Ingersoll Rand oil-less reciprocating air compressors are ideal for breweries (aeration to canning)
    January 18, 2021
  • Non-alcoholic beer brand Athletic Brewing closes $17M+ in funding with famous backers, selects Crafted ERP, eyes big growth
    January 18, 2021
  • Watch: This awareness video on human trafficking from beer wholesaler Markstein Sales will move you to action
    January 14, 2021
  • Distribution updates: Massachusetts brewers celebrate franchise reform, Yuengling goes to Texas with Molson Coors and more from Bell’s, Stone and beyond
    January 14, 2021

Footer

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

© 2021 · CBB Media LLC

Continue ...

sponsored by