Tilray Brands, the pharmaceutical, cannabis and consumer packaged goods company that just purchased eight craft brands from Anheuser-Busch, paid an astonishingly low $85 million for approximately 8 million cases combined. That’s about $150 per barrel, a far, far distance from the height of the craft beer industry when brands sold as high as $1,000 per barrel only 6-8 years ago.
The Tilray deal marks another sign that the large global brewers have lost interest in craft beer as they chase consumer preferences that are now trending into non-craft and non-beer categories.
It has been a long and sturdy climb for craft beer over the last 40+ years. Some in the industry have been surprised by the staying power of the segment. But with the diversity of choices for consumers which now includes non-traditional beer products such as seltzers, FMB’s, canned cocktails and wine, cannabis and others, it has become more and more difficult for craft beer, and beer overall, to eke out growth. Beer had another tough month in June, with shipments from domestic breweries down 6.4% compared to last year. Shipments are now down 5.9% for the year through June.
Although many of the 9,000+ craft breweries continue to thrive and grow, the overall growth trends for craft beer will likely continue downward in the foreseeable future.