The current state of affairs for shipping beer direct to consumers (DTC) is not that great. Breweries in the United States can only ship to nine states plus the District of Columbia, which equates to only 17% of the U.S. population. For comparison, U.S. wineries can ship to 47 states and 97% of the U.S. population. Beer DTC is still in a state of infancy, but the good news for breweries is there’s a tremendous amount of untapped opportunity.
The American brewing industry continues to roll with the punches brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Supply chain issues are impacting everything from ingredients to packaging, and staffing remains a concern for some. But the beer business is plucky and has continued to innovate, create and inspire. The turning of the calendar into a new year means new challenges, but also new opportunities.
The Yakima Chief Hops story continues to grow, and it’s been a fun one to watch. The grower-owned hop supplier is a global name today. You only have to see this just finished state-of-the-art cold storage warehouse in Belgium to be impressed by its progress, or maybe take a peek at its latest cutting-edge products from frozen fresh hops to water-soluble CBD distillate.
America’s beer industry supports more than two million jobs, provides more than $102 billion in wages and benefits, and contributes more than $331 billion to the U.S. economy. Today our nation’s brewers, beer importers and independent beer distributors not only provide Americans with their favorite alcoholic beverage, but they continue to be a cornerstone to America’s economy. The Beer Serves America report is a comprehensive study of the number of American jobs the beer industry supports, from farmers and brewers and beer importers to beer distributors and servers at your favorite bars and restaurants.
Alcohol e-commerce and on-demand delivery platform Drizly released its third annual BevAlc Insights by Drizly Retail Report, culled from a nationwide survey of over 500 alcohol retailers during November 2021, and it looks like craft beer is poised to reclaim shelf space from hard seltzer in 2022.
Total beverage alcohol eCommerce sales across key global markets are expected to grow by 66% over five years, reaching more than $42bn, according to new data from IWSR Drinks Market Analysis.
Last year, the owner and brewer of Urban Artifact Brewing Company in Cincinnati spent nine months waiting for an order of the tropical superfruit to get filled from a supplier in Vietnam, a major lychee exporter. His shipment never left Southeast Asia, posing big problems for Urban Artifact’s Petroglyph beer, a top seller.
Ball Corp (BLL)., one of the world’s largest suppliers of aluminum cans, is sending shockwaves throughout the craft beer world after lifting the minimum number of cans certain producers must order and saying it will raise prices.