In the United States, the production of craft beer refused in 2024, although its market share in volume has remained “essentially flat”, according to data from the Brewers Association.
The commercial group, which represents the small independent brewers in the United States, said that the production of craft beer fell to 23.1 million barrels last year, 4% less than 2023.
Despite the drop in volume, craft beer maintained a share of 13.3% of the overall beer market, the same level as in 2023, said Brewers Association.
The wider market of American beer has also contracted, with total volumes down 1.2% in 2024.
According to the Brewers Association staff economist, Matt Gacioch, craft beer is a “mature market”, which means that “each year will not be defined by substantial growth”.
He added: “Although progress has not come to an additional production volume, it may always have come to perfection operations, commercial practices and world class beer.”
Last week, US President Donald Trump authorized a suspension of 90 days of reciprocal prices for more than 75 countries – excluding China – while maintaining a 10% reference rate on all American imports.
“Small brewers are already struggling with the increase in ingredient costs, the change in consumer preferences and the increase in competition in a saturated market,” warned Gacioch.
“Prices on imported brewing equipment, steel barrels, aluminum cans and key ingredients such as hops and malt only exacerbate these financial pressures.”
“These additional costs can be particularly difficult for small and independent breweries, which often operate on narrow beneficiary margins.
The craft beer dollars has increased by 3% to around 28.9 billion dollars, which represents 24.7% of the total beer market in retail dollars.
In 2024, there were 9,612 American craft breweries, including 1,934 microbreweries, 3,389 breweries, 3,695 brasseries of tapesters and 266 regional craft brasseries.
The Brewers Association said that the number of staff members employed in the American craft brewing sector increased by 3% to 197 112 in 2024, driven by an evolution towards hospitality models such as carpet salons and breweries.
The total number of American breweries fell to 9,680 against 9,747 in 2023, with 434 openings and 501 closures.
Brewers Association said it has marked the first drop in the number of operational craft breweries since 2005.
Although the openings decreased for the fourth consecutive year, “reflecting a ripe and highly competitive industry”, the closure rate remained relatively low at around 5%, added the sales organization.
