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Preliminary craft beer growth numbers from, the Brewers Association annual report would be encouraging at any other time.
Unfortunately the beer industry has entered unprecedented times…
The good news is craft dollar growth was up 6% over 2018, coming in at an estimated at $29.3 billion, representing 25.2% market share. And craft beer volume also held its own, showing almost 4% volume growth, up a little over 2018’s number.
“Small and independent brewers continued to serve as job creators, strong economic contributors, and community beacons in 2019, while craft maintained a fairly stable growth rate in 2019 and continued to gain share in the beer market,” said Bart Watson, chief economist, Brewers Association.
According to Brewers Association data, “there were 8,275 craft breweries operating in 2019, including 2,058 microbreweries, 3,011 brewpubs, 2,966 taproom breweries, and 240 regional craft breweries. Throughout the year, there were 942 new brewery openings and 294 closings.’
At a time when the total beer market was down 2%, craft brewers produced 26,347,950 barrels of beer in 2019, up from approximately 25.500.00 in 2018.
In the face of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which has led to temporary restaurant, bar and taproom closures nationwide, Watson was understandably cautious about the craft beer industry’s short and long term future…
“Although craft brewers entered 2020 on a solid foundation, the beer landscape is dramatically different today than it was just a few months ago. Breweries will be facing new realities due to the pandemic with extended closures, tight cash flow, societal shifts, and other economic variables in play.”
As we’ve already noted it’s important to remember that numbers are preliminary and will be fine-tuned in the coming month…
The full 2019 industry analysis will be published in the May/June 2020 issue of The New Brewer, highlighting regional trends and production by individual breweries.
For additional insights from Bart Watson, visit Insights & Analysis on the Brewers Association website.
For more perspective on 2019’s sales and volume results, check out:
