Mark Twain's Economic Footprint Of The Craft Beer Industry

Forecasting anything to do with Craft Beer’s is a process of interpreting historic and present data to project ahead. Now we are looking at it as consumers to get a feel for why there are hits and misses in the forecasting process.

With 9,500 craft brewers in America and more on the way, the economic footprint of the craft industry is large. It will stay relevant because the industry is nimble and responds to “change” quickly. However, not that long ago there were headlines such as, “The Craft Beer Industry’s Buzz is Wearing Off” appeared in The Washington Post on April 10th, 2018. Similar articles suggested a waning craft beer industry. Here is another example, “The days of eye-popping growth numbers for the craft beer industry seem to

In 1897, a newspaper reporter wrote to Mark Twain asking if he was dead. The fortuitous reply has some applicability to Craft Beer, circa 2023. The gist of Twain’s famous reply was, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” Today, prior reports of a diminished craft beer industry are “greatly exaggerated” too. Don’t ask if Craft Beer is dead or even dying. It is resilient, as exhibited by its creativity in packaging, branding, and products. One recent projection forecasted craft beer to be a $92 billion industry by 2025, up from $76 billion in 2021.

The owners of macro breweries have, in recent years, acquired craft breweries, albeit with mixed results. It appears that these forays have highlighted the fact that micro-operations have a unique set of challenges. For example, some macro brewer’s, by owning their own large barley and hops farming operations, this has ensured them of supplies of critical raw materials. Craft brewers, who focus on specific varietals of hops and barley for their recipes, are stressed with supply chain issues.

Change forms insights and insights are part of forecasts. There is value in craft brewers having

For a relatively long time most economist said that the millennials (25+ year olds) were committed to craft beer no matter the price. Now with general inflation and increased costs in raw materials impacting craft beer pricing, will the consumer opt for cheaper brands of beer? Such options would be the consumer reverting to the ‘pedestrian go-to beer brands’ produced by macro brewers versus craftsman ‘made’ beer. Pundits still feel in a preference stand-off, mass produced versus craft beers, these are two distinct products and not an either-or comparison. Therefore, craft beer pricing still makes for an inelastic