72
ILLUSTRATION
BY
GEORGE
WYLESOL.
DATA:
BREWERS
ASSOCIATION
Bloomberg
Businessweek
(USPS
080
900)
June 24, 2019 (ISSN 0007-7135) H Issue no. 4619 Published weekly, except one week in February, April, June, July, September, and two weeks in December by Bloomberg L.P. Periodicals
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In 1873 therewere4,131 breweriesintheU.S.Overthenext
centurythenumberfellandfell,hittinga low—notcount-
ingProhibition,whenit wenttozero—ofonly 89 in1978.It
wasn’tthatAmericanshadstoppeddrinkingbeer;overall
consumptionwashigherthanever.Butthebusinesswas
followingthepathofsomanyothersintheIndustrialAge,
consolidatingandsqueezingevermoreoutofeachman-
ufacturingfacility.
Theninthe1980s,somethingnotsotypicalhappened.
Craftbreweriesstartedopening,eventuallybythethou-
sands.Lastyeartherewere7,450breweriesintheU.S.,
accordingtotheBrewersAssociation,a craft-beertrade
group. Brewerytallies from theDepartment of the
TreasuryandtheBureauofLaborStatisticsarelowerbut
showa similargrowthtrajectory,andtheBLSestimates
breweryemploymenthasmorethantripledsince 2010,to
80,774asofDecember.
Beerconsumption,reportsbeveragedataanalystIWSR,
fellintheU.S.in 2018 forthesecondyearina rowaftersev-
eralyearsofvirtuallyunchangedsales.Thismightmean
thebreweryboomis destinedtostall,buta boomamidfall-
ingsalescouldalsobea signofsomethingmoreinteresting.
MostbeerproductionintheU.S.isstillcontrolled
bymegaproducersAnheuser-BuschInBevSA/NVand
MolsonCoorsBrewingCo.,butevenasthey’veacquired
upstartcompetitors,theirmarketsharehasdeclined.The
BrewersAssociationestimatesthatcraft-beersalesrose
3.9%in 2018,withbrewpubsandmicrobreweries(and
thusnotlargerregionalbreweries)drivingallthegrowth.
Beeris deindustrializing. —Foxisa businesscolumnist
forBloombergOpinion
LAST THING
○SLOWAND
STEADY
Realoutputperhour
worked(akalabor
productivity)in the
beverageindustry
is down65%since
2009 asproduction
hasshiftedfrom
industrialtoartisanal.
With Bloomberg Opinion
○ U.S.GIANTS
LAIDLOWER
Anheuser-Busch
andMolson
Coors’smarket
sharewas
64%
in 2018,according
toBeerMarketer’s
Insights,down
from78%in 2008.
○ THE FLY IN
THE FOAM
As the number of
smaller, less-
efficient, less-likely-
to-be-unionized
breweries has
exploded, average
annual pay for
brewery workers has
collapsed. In 2009 it
was $72,874; in 2018
it was $45,007.
○THEFALLANDRISEOFBREWERIES
Small craft-beer facilities are responsible
for much of the growth in the number of U.S.
producers. Liquor distilleries are multiplying as
well: BLS employment data showed 1,002 at
the end of 2018, up from 125 in 2008.
By Justin Fox
Even More Drink Options
For Your Summer Cookout
1873 2018
8k
4
0
U.S. breweries
Prohibition
1978