Data

Sales of beer, cider and flavored malt beverages topped $38.2 billion in 2018, according to market research firm Nielsen, which tracks category-wide sales at major off-premise retailers.

In this week’s edition of Last Call: Asahi announces plans to acquire London Pride maker; U.S. beer shipments decline in 2018; Charlie Papazian exits the Brewers Association; Clare Rose lays off 14 employees; and more industry news.

Maine’s craft beer industry contributed more than $260 million to the state’s economy in 2017, according to a biennial economic impact study conducted by the University of Maine in conjunction with the Maine Brewers’ Guild. The report, which examined data from 2017, notes that in-state craft breweries generated more than $168 million in total revenue, while producing an estimated 319,590 barrels of beer.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Company has a new CEO. Brewery founder Ken Grossman named former chief operating officer Jeff White to the position last October, the California-headquartered brewery confirmed to Brewbound.

Total U.S. beer dollar sales grew to more than $35 billion in 2018, according to retail data provider IRI. The Chicago-based market research firm, which tracks category-wide sales at major off-premise retailers, reported a 1.8 percent increase in beer dollar sales, despite a 0.3 percent decline in volume sales at multi-outlet and convenience (MULC) stores (grocery, drug, club, dollar, mass-merchandiser and military) through December 30.

U.S. cities with populations in excess of 5 million have seen the most percentage growth of brewery openings in the past five years, according to Brewers Association chief economist Bart Watson. Watson, who took to the BA blog with data compiled from the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau and brewery zip code locations, found a 183 percent increase in the number of breweries per 100,000 people in cities of more than 5 million people.

The popularity of non-traditional drinking venues is on the rise with younger consumers, according to new data shared today by Nielsen and CGA at the Brewbound Live business conference in Santa Monica, California. Nielsen beverage alcohol practice manager Caitlyn Battaglia and Nielsen CGA client director Matthew Crompton shared that younger craft beer drinkers are seeking out third-space drinking occasions. They noted that within the last year, 23 percent of millennials said they visited a taproom or a brewpub, while 13 percent said they ate and drank at a “groceraunt” and 14 percent said they imbibed at an arcade bar.

Shipments of domestically brewed beer are down about 2.9 percent, according to the Beer Institute, but year-to-date volume sales at off-premise retailers are still basically flat. According to the latest data from market research firm IRI, volume sales at multi-outlet and convenience stores were down 0.3 percent year-to-date through the period ending November 4.

Wine and spirits brands are cutting into the growth of the craft beer segment, according to Patrick Livingston, director of client insights for market research firm IRI. Livingston, who led yesterday’s Power Hour presentation hosted by the Brewers Association (BA), said craft beer dollar sales were up just 1.7 percent in IRI’s multi-outlet off-premise U.S. retail universe (excluding convenience stores) through July 8. Livingston added that craft has begun to plateau in off-premise channels, with volume sales leveling off since late March.

Year-to-Date volume sales of beer are basically flat, according to market research firm IRI Worldwide, which tracks scan data at major off-premise retailers throughout the U.S. In its latest monthly report, the firm also said off-premise retail volume sales of craft beer had grown 1.4 percent year-to-date through the period ending August 12.

Midway through 2018, the Canarchy Craft Brewery Collective is outpacing the overall U.S. craft beer segment. The Brewers Association (BA) reported last week that growth for small and independent U.S. brewers had “stabilized,” with production growing 5 percent through the first six months of 2018. The Fireman Capital-backed brewery consortium — whose brands include Oskar Blues, Cigar City, Deep Ellum, Perrin Brewing, Three Weavers, and Utah Brewers Cooperative (Wasatch and Squatters) — is growing faster than the category, with off-premise sales up 15.4 percent in the total U.S. multi-outlet and convenience store channel year-to-date.

In this week’s edition of Last Call: In-state sales are on the rise in Michigan; Baderbrau is set for an August auction; another round of brewery closures hit in Colorado, California and Georgia; and more beer industry news.

Want to know what a craft beer drinker looks like in America? According to Nielsen, a weekly craft drinker is predominantly male, ages 21-34, and makes between $75,000 and $99,000 annually. Although that’s the profile of a frequent craft drinker, opportunities exist to reach a more diverse group of consumers, according to the research firm, which today shared the results of its fourth annual Craft Beer Insights Panel (CIP) survey, conducted by Harris Poll and commissioned by the Brewers Association (BA).

Midway through 2018, off-premise volume sales of craft beer across a variety of large-scale retail stores are up just 1.7 percent, according to market research firm IRI Worldwide. While craft beer dollar sales at grocery, club, drug, dollar, mass merchandiser and convenience stores were just shy of $2 billion through June 17, up 2.9 percent year-to-date, the most recent trends point to a slowdown as brewing companies head into an important summer season.