Almost 4 years ago our post Beer and Growth of Niche Markets covered the growth of small, craft brewers. In 2010, we looked at the beer industry again and found that small brewers were continuing to gain share on the brewing global giants.
A recent Huffington Post article on the 20 Top Selling Craft Brewers has some interesting beer sales data for 2011:
- Overall, beer sales were down about 1.5%
- Craft beer sales increased in the area of 15%
- The total number of craft breweries reached about 1900, with another 800 in development
Given these numbers it's pretty clear that niche, craft brewers have continued their 2 decade run of gaining market share against the global beer giants.
But before we get carried away and declare big brewers dead, we need to keep in mind craft brewers still only have about 7% of the U.S. beer market. The two global beer giants - InBev and SAB - produce over 80% of the beer sold in America.
For those interested in beer and data, Bud Light is largest selling beer brand in America. Bud Light's 2010 shipments were 4 times larger than the shipments of the top 25 craft brewers combined!
For an interesting infographic on craft brewers, check out Intuit's Small Business blog post on the topic.
Very Informative !!
Anna Lopez
LowkeyMedia Marketing Team
http://powercornerblog.com/
Posted by: Anna Lopez | March 08, 2012 at 04:32 AM