Beer wholesalers remained neutral on beer to kick off 2025, according to the latest Beer Purchasers’ Index (BPI) from the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA).
Total beer posted a January BPI reading of 48. Readings above 50 indicate expansion, or increased beer ordering, while readings below 50 indicate contraction.
Although still in contraction, the latest reading is the highest January BPI since 2021, and five points above January 2024’s reading of 43, according to the report.
Recall, in January 2021, the world was less than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. was tackling a post-holidays surge in virus cases, and the bev-alc industry was still prioritizing off-premise sales as consumers remained wary of visiting the on-premise. The following January (2022) marked a return to pre-pandemic trends and January contraction as the industry counteracted end-of-year overstock.
Additionally, at-risk inventory – inventory within 30 days of going out of code – posted a reading of 49, creating another “bullseye” month where the industry is “neither bullish nor bearish” on the category.
December was also a “bullseye” month, with total beer and at-risk inventory both posting BPI readings of 48. At the time, NBWA chief economist and VP of analytics Lester Jones called the neutral reading “rare.”
Two beer segments were in expansion territory in January:
- Imports (61), two points above January 2024 (59) and six points below December (67);
- Below premium (56), 23 points above January 2024 (33) and 11 points above December (45).
Premium lights, which was the only segment other than imports to be in expansion in December (53), fell back into contraction territory with a reading of 49. However, its January 2025 reading was 11 points above its January 2024 reading of 38.
Other segments with near-50 readings include:
- Flavored malt beverages/hard seltzer (46), 11 points above January 2024 and one point above December;
- And premium regular (45), two points above January 2024 and three points above December.
Craft beer and hard cider recorded the lowest BPI readings for January 2025, and were the only segments to not improve their readings versus January 2024. Craft (26) declined two points versus January 2024 and four points versus December. Hard cider (29) was one point below January 2024 and nine points below December.