Seasonal trends for onsite brewery sales have remained relatively consistent since January 2021, but “in real terms” – i.e. accounting for inflation – onsite sales continue to decline, according to Brewers Association (BA) staff economist Matt Gacioch, citing data from Arryved.
Craft beer has entered “no to negative growth territory,” Brewers Association (BA) chief economist Bart Watson said during a year-end webinar last week. “We were in double-digit growth as recently as 2014, 2015, and then we moved into kind of a more developed, slow, single-digit growth rate,” Watson said. “COVID hit, and we had the worst year in craft history in 2020 with a partial bounce back in 2021.
This year will be the first, other than 2020, in which independent breweries’ volume has declined in the modern era of craft beer, according to the Brewers Association’s (BA) 2023 Year in Beer report.
The United States Senate passed a sweeping tax reform bill early Saturday morning that includes a number of changes to the tax code and benefits alcohol producers. With a vote of 51-49 today, the Senate passed H.R. 1, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” which is the largest tax overhaul in 31 years and includes the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA).
The North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild has hired Andrew Lemley as the organization’s new executive director. Lemley comes to the Guild from New Belgium Brewing Company, where he most recently served for the last four years as the Fort Collins-headquartered brewery’s government affairs representative.
A majority of U.S. senate members now support legislation that would reduce excise taxes on all brewers and importers. According to a press release jointly produced by six beverage lobbying groups, including the Beer Institute and the Brewers Association, 51 senators have co-sponsored Senate Bill 236, known as the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA).
Executives from the largest beer companies in the U.S. gathered in San Diego this week for the annual Beer Institute (BI) meeting, and a theme of unity emerged as industry leaders attempt to stem continued share losses to wine and spirits.
The Beer Institute — a national trade association representing brewers, beer importers, and industry suppliers — announced today that Travis Gibbons has been named senior director of health policy and regulatory affairs. Gibbons brings over a decade of government and advocacy experience to the Beer Institute.