Trade Groups

The beverage-alcohol landscape has “radically” changed over the last decade, but small and independent producers – both in beer and hard cider – are primed to take advantage, Brewers Association (BA) president and CEO Bart Watson shared at CiderCon last week in Providence, Rhode Island.

Hard cider was one of three beer segments to record consistent growth in 2025, escaping the declines that plagued most of the category as beverage-alcohol tackled increased supply costs, consumer purchasing shifts and numerous macroeconomic headwinds.

The majority of adult non-alcoholic (ANA) beverage buyers are new consumers to the category, suggesting opportunities for suppliers looking to have a greater impact on the category, according to new data from market research firm NIQ.

Inflationary pressures, changing consumer shopping habits, immigration enforcement tactics, COVID-19, weather – all and more have been listed as causes for bev-alc’s less-than-ideal last few years. But one of the largest hurdles for the industry might be by its own design, according to National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) chief economist and VP of analytics Lester Jones.

Beer ordering remained in contraction in January, but recorded a “significant bump” compared to December, according to National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) in the first Beer Purchasers’ Index (BPI) of 2026.

Domestic beer’s volume losses continued in November with a 3.6% decline in shipments, according to data from the Beer Institute (BI). Tax paid shipments from U.S. breweries declined by 371,854 barrels year-over-year (YoY), to an estimated 10 million barrels, according to data from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), the BI shared Monday.

Adult non-alcoholic (ANA) beverages have been added to the Beer Institute’s (BI) Advertising and Marketing Code and Buying Guidelines (Ad Code), adding “responsible marketing” suggestions for the growing segment.

The wait is over: The 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) have been released, and after months of uncertainty around how guidelines could affect the beverage-alcohol industry, trade groups are likely breathing a sigh of relief.

The Clean Alcohol Collective (CAC), co-founded by Meredith Mills-Merritt, founder of ready-to-drink (RTD) brand The Original Southside, and Conor Begley, co-founder of Father’s Brewing, launched this month as a coalition of alcohol brands offering greater ingredient transparency and shared formulation standards.

“Barring a drastic change in the last few weeks” of 2025, craft will likely record its third consecutive year of volume declines and second consecutive year in which brewery closings outpaced openings, according to the Brewers Association (BA) in the trade group’s annual Year in Beer report.

Hopes for continued beer volume gains following September’s positive trends were dashed with the latest report from the Beer Institute (BI). Domestic tax paid shipments returned to the red in October, declining 3.8%, to 11 million barrels of beer.

Anthony Trento joins Sunset Distributing; the Brewers Association reveals 2026 CBC keynote speaker; Lawson’s gives big; and Harpoon IPA gets a refresh.

The Brewers Association’s (BA) biennial Salary and Benefits Benchmarking Report is back, with wage and responsibility information representing more than 7,000 employees across the craft brewing industry. The BA surveyed 92 small and independent breweries, gathering information on 67 jobs.

Wholesalers remain in a holding pattern to avoid end-of-year overstocks, according to the latest Beer Purchasers’ Index (BPI) from the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA).