It would appear that annual beer consumption in America has reached it’s lowest point since the 90’s. According to data from Beer Marketers’ Insights, beer shipments in 2023 are expected to be under 200 million barrels. That’s the lowest that figure has been since 1999.
Leading the decline was Anheuser Busch. In 2023 headlines over a sponsorship agreement with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney led to a boycott which plummeted Bud Light sales to a 24 year low.
But a boycott of one brand isn’t the sole driver in the generational drop in consumption. Adding to this decline, has also been the flatlining of craft beer in recent years. As we have reported in the past craft beer production has gone flat not only in Pennsylvania, but country wide as well. PA saw close to 100,000 less barrels of beer produced in 2022 as compared to 2021.
According to data from the Brewers Association a decline in beer consumption has been on the horizon for a few years. U.S. beer volume sales were down 3% in 2022, while craft brewer volume sales remained on par with 2021, raising small and independent brewers’ share of the U.S. beer market by volume to 13.2%.
One major factor in the decline are the rising number of beer alternatives flooding the market. Options such as seltzers, Ready To Drink (RTD) cocktails, and hard sodas/ teas have never been as popular as they are right now. According to Statista, the hard seltzer market share was 496 million dollars in 2018. Compare that to 4.6 billion in 2021. That is an increase of over 800%. A rise in completive offerings has allowed for a bigger push for beer drinkers to other choices.
The good news (for Pennsylvania at least) is that our data shows that any flatlining or decline in drinking is not stopping brewers from pursuing their dreams. Our data suggests that breweries are still working as much as ever to either open or expand. Economic conditions may have changed, but the dream of small business ownership remains strong. The number of breweries operating in Pennsylvania remains as high as ever.
