Leading Beer Market Shipments by Supplier
(000 2.25-Gallon Cases)
Boston Beer 1.4%
Supplier
Cases
AB InBev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,344,000
MillerCoors Brewing . . . . . . . . . . . . .813,000
Crown Imports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .165,800
Heineken USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115,200
Pabst Brewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78,200
Yuengling Brewery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38,700
Boston Beer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37,900
N.A. Breweries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37,100
Diageo-Guinness USA . . . . . . . . . . . .34,900
Total Leading Suppliers
2,664,800
Others
137,500
Total U.S.
2,802,300
Share
. . . . . . . . . .48.0%
. . . . . . . . . .29.0%
. . . . . . . . . . .5.9%
. . . . . . . . . . .4.1%
. . . . . . . . . . .2.8%
. . . . . . . . . . .1.4%
. . . . . . . . . . .1.4%
. . . . . . . . . . .1.3%
. . . . . . . . . . .1.2%
95.1%
4.9%
100.0%
Yuengling Brewery 1.4%
N.A. Breweries 1.3%
Pabst Brewing 2.8%
Diageo-Guinness
USA 1.2%
Heineken USA 4.1%
Crown Imports 5.9%
AB InBev 48%
MillerCoors
Brewing 29%
Source: The Beverage Information Group.
MillerCoors source called Blue Moon "the country's
biggest single craft beer."
Jim Koch takes a more conciliatory—and realistic—
approach that recognizes that big brewers' small beers
are here to stay.
"One of the problems here is that no one's come up
with an acceptable name for those beers," says Koch.
"Calling them 'crafty' doesn't advance the industry unity
that we all need. I think there ought to be a better alternative for the specialty beers brewed by the mass domestic producers. I'll call them 'domestic specialty' and if you
look at that as a category, it is growing as fast, or faster
than craft beer. Once you get some clarity around it, and
get away from the polemics, you can see that the big
brewers have done a good job with their entries and they
will continue to use their enormous advantage in retailer
clout and distributor leverage to grow their position."
That's certainly what big brewers, themselves, hope.
Midway through 2013, more cautionary news. A
midsummer Gallup poll suggests—and media have
reported rather hysterically—that beer is losing favor
among American drinkers, with a shift to wine and spirits. The trend is marked among young drinkers, with a
30% drop in those who chose beer as their preferred
beverage, and among non-whites. But it's possible to
counter the crepe-hangers with the most fundamental
conclusion of the study: beer may not regain its unassailable position, but it is still the most popular beverage
alcohol, particularly among the groups who make up the
consumers of the future.
I
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38 • Beverage Dynamics • www.beveragedynamics.com • September/October 2013
