(Boulder, CO) – Loads of information was learned today during today’s Brewers Association Power Hour. 2010 craft beer stats galore found below . . .



Earlier this year, I provided a few nuggets of info I heard while on a year-end conference call with the BA. Well, my membership ran out, I haven’t re-upped yet and I missed out on today’s mid-year call. During (some of) these calls, Dan Wandel of SymphonyIRI, a marketing group that tracks data on various product industries, reports out on what this agency has discovered about the beer industry. Fortunately, two kind folks took my place today and tweeted their little hearts out during the call.

The following is courtesy of Cicerone Program Founder/Director (and former Brewers Association Marketing Director), Ray Daniels, and North Carolina Brewers Guild Financial Advisor, Audra Marotta. Here’s what we learned today (with some re-organizing and a few notes from myself):

Macro Industry Stats:

Top 10 major brewer brands DOWN more than 5 million cases so far this year. /Ray

AB down 1.9%, MC down 2.4%, Heineken down 1.0%, Crown Imports down .8%, tho Boston Beer up 14.7%, Yuengling up 14.1%, PBR up 1.5% ($ sales) /Audra

2010 case sales down in 3 largest off-premise channels. $ sales flat in grocery, down in Convenience & Liquor /Audra

Combined case sales for 7 Megabrands in supermarkets down 4.1%, $ sales down 3.1% for 1st 6 mos of 2010. /Audra

Pricing erosion seen in import segment, while craft segment increases about 1-2%, depending on channel during 1st half of 2010. /Audra

Bad news: progressive adult bev sales in 24-oz can sales are exploding, esp in convenience stores. /Ray

Sadly, Progressive Adult Beverages seem to be the one other sector of the beer business that is growing (other than craft). /Ray

3 of top 10 new brands are IPAs … the rest are Progressive Adult Beverages like Smirnoff Blueberry & Limonade. Sad. /Ray

7 of 15 top NEW beer brands are progressive adult beverage brands (Smirnoff, Mikes). New Belgium Ranger in top 5. Dundee IPA in top 15. /Audra

It’s a pleasant surprise to see Ranger IPA doing so well since its introduction last year. The IRI figures regularly published in Modern Brewery Age tend to exclude this beer for whatever reason.

Blue Moon Belgium White Ale, Shock Top and Leinie’s leading way in top 15 super premium brands $ sales. Blue Moon #1 momentum brand. /Audra

Blue Moon $ sales up 27% vs 2009, and is SIG’s #1 “momentum” brand. Amazing. Shocktop up 34%. /Ray

Blue Moon White fastest growing craft/specialty brand in case sales % change in supermarket channel. /Audra

Newcastle Brown up 10% this year: I’d say that’s good for craft as it helps to create craft drinkers. /Ray

I’d also say that Blue Moon’s success bodes well for craft as well. Some of those drinkers may stick to Blue Moon, sure, but some of them will be more open to craft brands after liking Blue Moon.

Import brands % change leaders: Modelo Especial, Stella Artois, Newcastle Brown, Dos Equis, Labatt. /Audra

NAB + IBU = #6 [Regional] Brewer /Audra

Craft Overall Stats:

Listening to BA Powerhour on first half of 2010 sales data. Craft volume up 11.9%! /Ray

More stats from the BA’s Mid-Year Report here

Craft segment experiencing DOUBLE DIGIT [year-over-year] case and $ sales growth 2009 vs. 1st half 2010. /Audra

Dan Wandel from SIG says craft beer the “shining star” of US beer market, on track for 6th (I think he said) year of >10% growth. /Ray

What recession? First half craft sales showing best growth of any year since 2007. /Ray

With social media a big news source for some of us, it may seem like craft beer is at levels that are unheard of with all the day-to-day chatter but we’re really just getting back to pre-recession growth levels. What makes craft beer growth in 2009 and 2010 so remarkable, though, is that we’re still in the recession.

Symphony IRI Group shows craft beer being 8.7% of the total beer market in H1 2010. /Ray

Craft beer $ market share 5.4% in 2005 vs. 8.7% in 2010. Domestic premium fell from 45.3% to 40.9% over same 5 year time period. /Audra

Beer continues to lose share to wine/spirits, although craft segment continues to lead all beer segments in case and $ sales growth for 2010 /Audra

Craft case sales velocity supermarkets up in each of 8 quad wk reporting periods of 2010 vs. 2009. Minus craft? Down 1% $, Case down 2.8%. /Audra

Merchanding support flat in craft segment while sales in cases and dollars continue to grow. Single 22oz, 4-packs sales contributing a lot. /Audra

Sales of craft beer 22 oz bottles up 28% in 2010 vs. 2009 in supermarkets. /Ray

One tweeter makes a good point: many wine drinkers that go for 750s are looking for value these days. Despite 22’s being much more expensive per oz. than 6-packs, they still provide an attractive alternative, (perhaps) especially to wine drinkers.

Craft 6pk/12pk 12oz cans in convenience channel HUGE growth (80%, 49.4% respectively in $ sales % change). /Audra

More households in the US now purchasing craft beer versus a year ago–better than any other segment. /Ray

Consumers on avg. spend $12.34 per craft purchase occasion. Just over $80/yr. total spend. /Audra

8 of the top 15 new craft brands this year are IPAs. /Ray

Good news is that craft lead brands continue to grow–a good sign of vitality for the sector. Way to go craft brewers! /Ray

Craft Regional Stats:

Craft sales growing in all regions of the US, but Southeast is #1 and Great Lakes is #2. Cool! /Ray

Abita and SweetWater are, by far, the top brands in the Southeast. After them, we’re looking at Highland with 16k barrels. Lots of room for growth in this region!

Great Lakes is leading region for case and dollar craft sales growth in the US. Time to hire more people! /Ray

Southeast region up 24.6% craft $ change YOY. Northeast and Southcentral highest price case sales inc. YOY. /Audra

In $ sales top 10 craft lead brands comprise 39.1% of segment. The Southeast region greatest amount of growth! /Audra

Based on case sales, craft segment food state leaders: CA, WA, TX, OR, NY, NC (in order)! /Audra

Craft sales account for more than 20% of all beer sold in supermarkets in Portland, OR and other PNW markets. /Ray

Craft Brand Stats:

Stone & Alaskan Brewing are #9 and #10 of the top ten craft brewers in US with folks like Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, New Belgium at top. /Ray

Hmm, I think Stone would have to be at growing in excess of 30% more than Alaskan is growing in 2010 for this to be possible. Something seems wonky here.

Based on $ sales change %, Sierra Nevada explosive growth. In case sales top 10 craft lead brands comprise 40.9% share of segment. /Audra

Sierra Nevada is at 10% growth so far this year. Bang it here for the latest on the burgeoning brewery.

Top craft brand distributor gainer in CA: Sierra Nevada Torpedo. # of [Craft] UPCs in CA supermarkets: 511. Sam Adams also big gainer. /Audra

SN Torpedo is fastest growing of the top 15 craft brands: up more than 200% versus last year. /Ray

New Belgium $ sales % change up 28%, Boston Beer up 14.3%, Deschutes up 13.2%, Stone up 22%, Full Sail up 3.1%. /Audra

Pretty remarkable to see NBB growth rate higher in a year where it’s not expanding into any new markets over a year in which distribution did expand to several states. Though NBB’s peers are growing faster than they were last year and this is the first full year of sales for some of those markets so not all that surprising perhaps. . .

Congrats to Lucky Bucket Brewing, the top craft vendor sales gainer in the Plains region! /Audra