Breweries NAICS 312120

May 13, 2026 - Ambient CO2 For Carbonation

• Rising costs and supply disruptions for carbon dioxide can create operational challenges for breweries, but new technologies are offering solutions, VinePair reports. At Alameda, California-based Almanac Beer Company, an unreliable carbon dioxide supply and higher prices, partly driven by global disruptions, have forced temporary production shutdowns. To address the problem, the brewery partnered with Aircapture to source carbon dioxide directly from the air using on-site capture machines. Their alternative supply is 15-20% cheaper and more reliable than traditional suppliers, helping stabilize production and reduce costs, according to VinePair. For breweries facing growing risks tied to input volatility, especially for essential materials like carbon dioxide used in carbonation, capture is a possible solution. While there isn’t a nationwide shortage of carbon dioxide at present, the supply remains fragile and prone to occasional disruption, resulting in higher costs, operational risk, and innovation in sourcing.
• Craft breweries are nearing a ceiling in their shift from bottles to aluminum cans, with cans already representing 78% of packaged volume, according to 2025 data and a recent analysis from the Brewers Association. This will limit further packaging-driven efficiency gains, as many brewers have already invested heavily in canning infrastructure and face high switching costs. Meanwhile, tariffs and rising input costs are creating margin pressure for breweries, which must either absorb higher aluminum and supply costs or pass them on to consumers. Consumer behavior is also shifting toward value-oriented purchasing, with growth in single cans and larger pack sizes, while traditional six-packs lose share. Despite rising volumes, average prices declined, putting further pressure on profitability. Overall, breweries are facing a challenging environment of cost inflation, limited operational flexibility, and changing demand patterns, that requires careful pricing strategies and strong supplier coordination to protect margins.

• Breweries are increasingly adopting value‑driven pricing strategies to counter declining discretionary spending, VinePair reports. The trend is reshaping taproom economics with deals like Three Roads Brewing’s $5 pint menu and Von Ebert’s $3 award‑winning lager showing how breweries are using fast‑food‑style value menus to boost foot traffic, extend visits, and keep taprooms hopping on slow nights. Promotions like these help breweries maintain volume even as consumers balk at $6–$8 pints. Breweries are also broadening value offerings, including meal bundles, kids‑eat‑free nights, and low‑cost weekday specials, to attract families and budget‑conscious locals. To make these deals sustainable, breweries are simplifying recipes, leaning into affordable lagers, and tightening cost control while trying not to erode craft beer’s premium image. The overall impact is a shift toward everyday affordability as a core competitive strategy, essential for retaining customers in a financially strained market.
• The Producer Price Index (PPI) for breweries, which measures the selling price received by producers, rose 2.2% in March compared to a year ago, after rising 0.7% in the previous March-versus-March annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. High input and production costs are driving the producer prices for breweries to their current record high. At the retail level, beer-at-home prices increased 0.5% year over year in March, while beer-away-from-home prices rose 0.3% YoY, according to the Labor Department’s March 2026 Consumer Price Index. Meanwhile, employment by breweries, wineries and distilleries shrank 3.6% YoY in February, per the BLS.