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Seven of the 10 largest Brewers Association-defined craft breweries recorded production volume declines in 2025, according to data shared by the trade group in the May/June Issue of The New Brewer magazine.
Craft brewers’ production volume fell a collective 5.1% in 2025, according to the Brewers Association’s (BA) annual Industry Production Report, published today.
Anyone looking for an answer to when craft’s current era of compounding hurdles and declines will come to an end received a reality check Wednesday during Brewers Association (BA) president and CEO Bart Watson’s state of the industry address, held at the start of Day 2 of the Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) in Indianapolis.
Consumers spent $97 million on craft beer through e-commerce in 2020, which accounted for 24% of all beer category dollar sales online. In brick-and-mortar stores, however, craft beer makes up 12.6% of all dollar sales. In fact, craft has the second largest dollar share behind flavored malt beverages (32%), which include hard seltzers.
Denizens Brewing co-founder and chief brand officer Julie Verratti will join the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as associate administrator of field operations, beginning March 1. Verratti will step away from her role with the brewery to take on the political appointment.
The National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) announced today that the Distributors Against Human Trafficking initiative trained 5,164 distribution employees during National Slavery and Human Trafficking Awareness Month in January.
Several pieces of legislation working their ways through Congress would bring much needed relief to the hospitality industry — including breweries, brewpubs and taprooms — as they continue to struggle during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Grupo Modelo, the Mexican business division of Anheuser-Busch InBev, has filed a lawsuit against Constellation Brands, alleging that the company is “misusing and misappropriating” the Corona trademark with Corona Hard Seltzer.
A new version of the Restaurants Act, which would provide $120 billion in grants to bars and restaurants, was introduced in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on February 4. The bill now includes “brewpubs, tasting rooms, taprooms, and licensed facilities or premises of a beverage alcohol producer where the public may taste, sample, or purchase products,” the Brewers Association said.
The Brewers Association (BA) is urging the Can Manufacturing Institute (CMI) to ensure that small and independent craft brewers have access to aluminum cans amid the years-long inventory crunch beverage producers are now facing. In a letter to the CMI, BA president and CEO Bob Pease painted a dire picture for the nation’s nearly 8,400 craft brewers. “These businesses will simply not survive that long without cans,” he wrote.
Did the pandemic really cause a bump in sales of so-called tried and true flagship brands in 2020? Not really, writes Brewers Association chief economist Bart Watson in his latest members’ only column.
Off-premise beer category dollar sales increased 15.7% year-to-date through January 23, compared to the same period last year, market research firm NielsenIQ reported. For the four weeks ending January 23 (which includes December 28-31, 2020), off-premise dollars sales of the beer category — which includes core beer, flavored malt beverages, hard seltzers, ciders and malt liquor — increased 14.2%, indicating slight acceleration after January 1.
Oregon breweries looking to cash in on the $4.1 billion hard seltzer market need to consider the ingredients they choose to produce it, as the Oregon Liquor Control Commission’s (OLCC) classification of the bubbly beverage varies by base ingredients.
VPX Pharmaceuticals took its legal battle against PepsiCo to a second front this week as VPX-aligned company Quash Seltzer LLC filed a lawsuit alleging the conglomerate has threatened its prospective distribution partners out of doing business.
The number of legal drinking age adults who have visited on-premise establishments has remained stagnant at around 50% for several months, according to a report from Nielsen CGA, the on-premise arm of market research firm NielsenIQ. In the two weeks leading up to the January 8-10 survey period, 50% of respondents said they had gone out for a meal, which was the same number as those who had been out to a restaurant in the two weeks prior.
Drinking occasions remain less popular — 17% of respondents had gone out for a drink in the two weeks before the January 8-10 survey, an increase of 1% from the previous survey. Only 41% of respondents said they planned to visit a restaurant in the two weeks following the survey, but 18% said they would go out for a drink.
The Brewers Association announced today that it will postpone its annual Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) and Brew Expo America until September and move the event to Denver from San Diego, where it had been planned for late March. The 2021 edition of CBC is now slated to be held September 9-12, pending health and safety protocols.
Corporate America is reassessing its campaign spending in the wake of a rally-turned-riot at the U.S. Capitol last week by supporters of President Donald Trump that left five people — including a Capitol police officer — dead. Within the beer industry, the two largest beer manufacturers in the U.S. told Brewbound that they will review their spending.