Another tough year of business was had by the brewing sector, and even the major companies were not exempt. Modelo Especial won the off-premise sales title while Bud Light was enmeshed in the cultural wars and saw a decline in sales.

As to the Brewers Association, craft breweries saw nearly no increase in 2022 and a two percent fall in sales in the first half of 2023. According to Bart Watson, the chief economist for the Brewers Association, the weekly drumbeat of brewery closures is indicative of “a mature and competitive marketplace.” 

Craft beer is nothing new anymore, but according to Trevor Nearburg, the creator of Austin, Texas’ Beerburg Brewing, “this doesn’t mean the industry is in decline or going away.” “It just means that as brewers, we need to become considerably more sophisticated in our methods.”

Breweries will concentrate on producing crowd-pleasing pizza and burgers at taprooms, make wine, spirits, and THC beverages—which are now legally available at Total Wine in Minnesota and specialty stores like Craft Beer Cellar in Belmont, Massachusetts—in order to survive and grow. 

According to Dennis Stack, director of sales and marketing at Lone Tree Brewing in Lone Tree, Colorado, which produces the hop-and hemp-infused Ufloric sparkling water, “in 2024, craft will have to do what craft does best: adapt.”

These six trends will be relevant in 2024 as the brewing sector navigates another year of fierce competition and unpredictable customer behaviour.

Read the full story HERE, written by Joshua M. Bernstein

SOURCE: SevenFiftyDaily
PHOTO CREDIT: Joshua M. Bernstein/SevenFiftyDaily