Three global brewers with “craft” brand ownership lost a combined 1 million barrels in sales in 2023 according to estimates from Beer Marketer’s Insights. Meanwhile, Constellation sold off their remaining craft brands, in a growing trend of Big Beer losing interest in the US craft beer segment.
Christopher Shepard, senior editor at Beer Marketer’s Insights, gave a compelling seminar at the recent California Craft Brewers Association annual Summit in Sacrament, California. The tile of the seminar summed up 2023 for craft beer: ‘Inconceivable! Unpacking Beer’s Very Bad, No Good, Hard to Believe Year’
Anheuser-Busch and Miller Coors both had a very bad year for their craft beer portfolio, 6.2% and 16.3% respectively. Heineken’s Lagunitas brand lost 90,000 barrels alone, down by 11.0%.
As the global brewers chase new growth categories and look to trim costs, their floundering craft beer brands, which are expensive to run and show no signs of turning around, are an easy target to throw overboard. Sapporo made the decision last July to shut down Anchor Brewing in San Francisco altogether and it appears the brewery and building will be auctioned off.
But the appetite for craft beer brands in the US may not be totally sedated, as Chris mentioned that Asahi may be looking for additional craft brands in the US and Heineken may seek another brand to add scale to the Lagunitas portfolio.
Big Beer’s craft brands performed in line with total beer as industry shipments were down more than 5% in 2023.