• 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

Craft beer hits its lowest point in NBWA’s Beer Purchasers’ Index

April 2, 2020Chris Crowell

Today, the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) released the Beer Purchasers’ Index (BPI) for March 2020.  After two months of positive expanding beer orders in January and February, the March 2020 BPI stalled at 50. With temporary closures of on-premise establishments, the craft segment plummeted to lowest ever index recording at 35.

Data for the March 2020 Beer Purchasers Index was collected from March 9 — 20, coinciding with the period of temporary on-premise closures and simultaneous increased off-premise volumes due to pantry stocking.

The index surveys beer distributors’ purchases across different segments and compares them to previous years. A reading greater than 50 indicates the segment is expanding, while a reading below 50 indicates the segment is contracting.

In addition, the “at-risk inventory” index (inventory at risk of going out of code in the next 30 days) for total beer held at 44 and has remained below the 50 mark for the past nine months. However, with temporary closures of many on-premise accounts, the craft segments “at risk” index rose to 65 in March 2020 from 58 in March 2019.

Looking across the segments: ​

  • The rush to bring new seltzer brands to market continues to produce the highest BPI readings across all segments. However, the FMB/seltzer segment retreated from index readings over 90 in January and February 2020 to 80 in March 2020, and only a few points above the 78 reading in March 2019.
  • The craft index plummeted to an all-time low reading of 35 for the month, down from 55 in March 2019.
  • The index for imports at 52 is a full 10 points below the March 2019 reading. The index remains in expansion territory for the year.
  • Premium lights, regulars and below premiums all continue to struggle, posting below 50 index readings.
  • The cider segment took another big hit in March, falling to 29 from 48 at the same time last year.
kegs barrels warehouse cbb crop
Beer Purchasers Index closes 2020 showing moderate expansion, low at-risk inventory
National Beer Wholesalers
Beer purchasing shows signs of normalcy in October says NBWA
BPI-september
Beer distributors stay aggressive on ordering to minimize out-of-stock in September
beer purchaser index-001
At-risk inventory hits all-time low in Beer Purchasers’ Index for August

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