The craft beer revolution kept charging ahead in 2012, when 12% more barrels were shipped than the year before, the sixth straight year of growth.
Of 27 major craft brewers – all of which saw some gain – 16 had double digit increases, according to industry research group Beer Marketer’s Insights' Craft Brew News publication.
In all, the craft beer industry enjoyed a 1.5 million barrel boost to 13.7 million barrels total.
Samuel Adams Boston Lager maker Boston Beer led the segment, with craft beer shipments rising as much as 3% to nearly 2.2 million barrels. But the company’s share of the industry has slid to 15.7% from 21% in 2008, according to the report.
Sierra Nevada, a brewer based in Chico, is the second largest in the sector. It’s 12.6% shipping gain to 966,000 barrels was its best advancement in more than a decade.
Petaluma brewer Lagunitas Brewing had a blockbuster year, with shipments booming 46% to 235,000 barrels. The company – which makes labels such as Hop Stoopid Ale and Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ Ale, has more than quintupled its shipments in five years.
Unlike the general beer industry, where Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors control some 80% of business, craft beer operators exist in more of a diaspora. More than three-quarters of the craft beer segment is split among 2,000 smaller rivals.
ALSO:
Beer shipments fall in 2011 to lowest level since 2003
Beer brewers revise playbooks to win back lost customers
A brewery a day: Beer-maker growth rate fastest since Prohibition
Craft beer keeps growing, led by Boston Beer, Sierra Nevada
This article
Craft beer keeps growing, led by Boston Beer, Sierra Nevada
can be opened in url
http://newsterupdates.blogspot.com/2013/01/craft-beer-keeps-growing-led-by-boston.html
Craft beer keeps growing, led by Boston Beer, Sierra Nevada
