Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/143145
niche products viable in the entertainment field: it turns out that the total market for all non-hit songs combined exceeds the market for the few big hits. And in craft beer, the proliferation of small, local breweries means that the demand for those small brewers combined—the "tail"— exceeds the market for the small number of "big" craft breweries. This rapid growth has not been evenly distributed across breweries of all sizes. The top ten craft brewers, Sam Adams with nearly half the market, grew at latest debut, 8% last year, according to Beer Summer Ale, Marketer's Insights. At the other end continues the of the scale, the microbreweries (the company's new trend of BA's category for packaging breweries releasing producing less than 15,000 barrels some expresannually) grew by 33%. sions in cans. It would be wrong to suggest that a divide has opened between the large and small craft brewers, but there is certainly a tone of concern in the industry that the rapid growth and wide range in brewery size and strategies could erode the industry's wellestablished camaraderie. Jordan, at the helm of the third-largest craft company, acknowledged to her audience that "resources will become tighter." Brewing ingredients, adequatelytrained brewing and sales staff, distributor attention, shelf space and tap handles may become harder to get. WHO IS A CRAFT BREWER? A ing to steal business from smaller companies by imitating their products and concealing the connection to big breweries. The BA reiterated its tightly circumscribed definition of craft beer and craft brewers, which combines brewery size and governance structure, as well as the types of beers Shocktop, a craft beer brewed, their ingredients from MillerCoors, is one and the intentions behind of the growing number of craft beers that are using those ingredients. now owned or distribThere was under- uted by large, multinastandable push-back— tional brewers, which from the mega-brewers, has caused some on the who asserted that their craft side of the industry to question their versions of traditional "craft" bone fides. styles were as worthy of consideration as the versions produced by breweries that are, in the BA's words, "small, independent and traditional." More relevant to the craft beer drinker, in all likelihood, were protests from well-loved micros who found themselves cut from the craft beer club following sale to a larger company, or multi-generation regional breweries excluded because their flagship brand is in the pale lager style. What do consumers want? Most beer drinkers don't care as much as the BA would like about who brews their beer. But when they have the chance, they care more about supporting local Davids more than the Goliaths would like them to. substantive difference of opinion—and one much more likely to test the unity of the craft brewing community— concerns the question of exactly who is and who is not a craft brewer. Alarmed that the biggestselling beers brewed in the craft tradition, Blue Moon and Shock Top, were in fact produced by MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch InBev respectively, the Brewers Association issued a statement last December headlined "Craft vs. Crafty." In it, the association drew attention to the number of One of the large craft brewers, craft-like beers brewed, they say, Colorado-based New Belgium by non-craft breweries. Given the Brewing has released hoppier products this year, such as Ranger and enviable growth in the craft beer the newer Rampant. The company is sector, the BA warned that large also well-known for its sour beers, brewing companies are attempt- the best-selling of which is La Folie. 28 • Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • July/August 2013 CRAFT BEER TRENDS T he growth in craft beer sales may be tilted towards small and local breweries, but the largest brewers' beers are a ubiquitous feature of the retail landscape, and their new developments will be felt by far more consumers. This spring, Boston Beer startled longtime observers by embracing beer in cans. Founder Jim Koch has long harbored doubts about the wisdom of canning craft beer, concerned with the possible effect on beer flavor.