Beer Distributors NAICS 424810

May 20, 2025 - Beer Drinkers Balk at Higher Prices

• Beer doesn’t enjoy the same price elasticity as other alcoholic beverages like vintage wines or top-shelf whiskies, with beer drinkers balking at rising prices, The Wall Street Journal reports. As such, breweries must keep a lid on costs and prices, and innovate to justify price hikes. “Beer is [still] considered a commodity,” said Justin Catalana, CEO of San Francisco’s Fort Point Beer Co., adding “People talk about a six-pack’s cost the same way they do a carton of eggs.” But that wasn’t always the case. As craft breweries began to transform the industry, consumers happily paid more for hazy IPAs and other novel brews. But as they proliferated the market became crowded and craft beers became grocery store staples, according to WSJ. Now, amid slumping sales, the nation’s 9,861 craft breweries compete for sales with increasingly popular nonalcoholic beverages, cannabis, and canned cocktails. Some breweries are expanding beyond beer to boost revenue.
• According to the Beer Institute, US brewers shipped 12.5 million barrels in March, an increase of 0.7% compared to a year ago. March 2024 shipments totaled roughly 12.4 million barrels, a 15.8% drop from March 2023’s 14.75 million barrels. While March 2025’s slight increase marks the first year-over-year gain in three months, the industry remains well below pre-2024 levels. Employment by beer distributors was flat in March compared to a year ago, while average wages at alcohol distributors rose 6.8% over the same period to $27.16 per hour, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. April retail prices, as measured by the consumer price index, for beer at home rose 1.4% year over year and increased 0.1% from March, while the price of beer away from home rose 2.6% YoY and dipped 0.1% versus March, BLS data show.

• New research from Cornell University shows beer drives grocery store sales and supports relaxing laws to allow alcoholic beverages to be sold in grocery stores, Food Manufacturing reports. The Cornell study found that when a grocery store starts selling beer, beer-chasing households visited a grocery store 3.6% more often and increased their grocery store expenditures by 8% per month. Moreover, shoppers increased their spending on related categories (items likely to be purchased with beer) including snacks, cheese, deli items and soda by 17%. The research, which used nationally representative data at the store and household levels, found that the introduction of beer into grocery stores in Colorado – which began allowing grocery stores to sell full-strength beer in 2019 – can change how people shop, where they shop, and what they buy, says Bradley J. Rickard, a professor of food and agricultural economics Cornell University.
• The price of the US’s best-selling beer – Modelo – along with its compatriot Corona and Canadian beers would rise if President Donald Trump follows through on his threat to slap 25% tariffs on goods produced in Mexico and Canada, CNN reports. Constellation Brands, which imports Modelo and Corona beer (and tequila) from Mexico, could see its costs rise 16% under Trump's proposed tariff and would likely have to raise prices by about 4.5%, Wells Fargo equity analyst Chris Carey told CNN. To stave off potential price hikes, some business owners have begun stockpiling those beers and tequila, which can be made only in Mexico. "A lot of those companies, especially the smaller ones, don't have much choice except to pass those costs along," Dave Williams, president of Bump Williams Consulting, a provider of consulting and analytics services to the alcoholic beverage industry, told CNN.