The National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) released the Beer Purchasers’ Index (BPI) for January which shows that beer distributors reported continued year-over-year improvement for nearly all market segments, a significant improvement over January of 2023.
In January 2023 only one segment recorded a higher reading compared to the previous year, but the January 2024 report shows increased year-over-year ordering volumes for all segments except one.
Although January 2024 show improvement over last year, the beer category as a whole is still sluggish. The readings for all categories except imports remain below the contraction line of 50.
An index of 50 or above in a segment means volumes in that segment are expanding and an index below 50 indicates that volumes in that segment are contracting.
The craft index had an index of 28 for January 2024 which continues to signal contraction in the segment; however, it is higher than the January 2023 reading of 21.
The only segment with an index over 50 was imports at 59, which was higher than the 52 for the segment in 2023.
See the full press release and index readings for all segments here.