Breweries
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 9,700 production breweries in the US include about 155 national or international breweries producing over 6 million barrels per year. Around 260 are regional craft breweries producing between 15,000 and 6 million barrels annually. More than 2,000 microbreweries produce less than 15,000 barrels per year. An additional 3,400 brewpub restaurants and 3,800 taprooms also produce beer on-site.
Competition Among Breweries
The beer industry is highly competitive, with a proliferation of craft and large/non-craft breweries fueling competition.
Industry Highly Regulated
The beer industry is highly regulated at both the state and federal levels.
Industry size & Structure
The average brewery employs 7 workers and generates over $3 million in annual sales.
- The US brewing industry includes approximately 9,700 production breweries. About 155 are national or international breweries producing over 6 million barrels per year. Around 260 are regional craft breweries producing between 15,000 and 6 million barrels annually. More than 2,000 microbreweries produce less than 15,000 barrels per year. An additional 3,400 brewpub restaurants and 3,800 taprooms also produce beer on-site.
- The typical global brewery brews 100 million barrels annually, with revenue per barrel of approximately $125 (a barrel is 31 gallons).
- The top three global breweries – Belgium-based AB InBev, Netherlands-based Heineken, and China Resources Snow Breweries – commanded nearly half (47.5%) of the global beer market in 2022. Imports account for about 23% of the US beer market.
- Regional craft breweries include Boston Beer Company, Sierra Nevada, and New Belgium. These breweries typically distribute nationally and often internationally. The 260-or-so regional breweries produce around 15 million barrels of beer annually.
- The nation's 2,035 microbreweries produced 17.5% of craft beer industry production volume in 2022.
- About 3,219 brewpubs produce 1.4 million barrels of beer each year.
- Per capita, Americans consume about 28 gallons of beer annually. North Dakota, New Hampshire and Montana lead the nation in beer consumption with more than 40 gallons per capita. New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Utah consume the least with about half that amount per capita.
Industry Forecast
Breweries Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Jul 13, 2024 - Shipments and Prices Are Up
- The Producer Price Index for breweries, which measures prices before reaching consumers, rose almost 2% in May compared to a year ago after rising 3.1% in the previous annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. At the retail level, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for beer at home remained unchanged from the previous month in June at 3.1% year-over-year, according to the BLS. Growth in beverage shipments – up 3.5% from a year earlier in March – amid rising consumer spending is supporting higher beer prices. Meanwhile, employment by breweries, wineries, and distilleries grew 1% in May YoY, per BLS data.
- Athletic Brewing Company is taking steps to double its brewing capacity amid surging sales of nonalcoholic brews, The Wall Street Journal reports. In July, the US’s largest nonalcoholic beer brand closed a new round of equity financing that valued the company at around $800 million, roughly double its valuation just two years ago, according to WSJ. Founded in 2017, Athletic Brewing has quickly grown to surpass competing products from Heineken and Budweiser as the No. 1 nonalcoholic beer brand by sales in US grocery stores, according to NielsenIQ data cited by WSJ. Last year, Athletic sold more than 258,000 barrels of beer, making it a top-20 US brewery, company executives told WSJ. The fast-growing company plans to use the new capital to add a third brewing facility and marketing. Nonalcoholic beer is the fastest-growing segment of the beer market.
- Breweries struggling to compete with hard seltzers, canned cocktails, and slack demand from younger consumers are promoting beers with alcohol content approaching 10%, essentially double the alcohol by volume (ABV) of traditional brews, Axios Denver reports. Colorado breweries, including Coors-owned A.C. Golden, New Belgium Brewing, and Breckenridge Brewery, have all introduced beers with ABV at or above 9.5%. The high-ABV trend is being driven by consumers looking for more bang for their buck, brewers and analysts told Axios. At the other end of the spectrum, consumer interest in nonalcoholic and low-ABV beers is booming, with nonalcoholic beer the fastest-growing segment of the US beer market, according to The Wall Street Journal. Segmentation in the beer market is driven by consumers seeking out beers for different occasions.
- The number of craft breweries in the US continued to climb in 2023 despite a tough year for the craft brewery industry, the Brewers Association reported in April. In 2023, the number of operating craft breweries reached a record 9,761, including 2,092 microbreweries, 3,502 brewpubs, 3,910 taproom breweries, and 257 regional craft breweries. There were 495 new brewery openings and 418 closings. Openings fell for a second straight year, reflecting a more mature market. The closing rate increased but remained relatively low, at about 4%. Collectively, small and independent brewers produced 23.4 million barrels of beer in 2023, a decline of 1% from 2022. However, craft’s overall beer market share by volume grew to 13.3% in 2023 from 13.1% in 2022, as craft’s declines were smaller than overall beer volume losses, per BA production data.
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