Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2019-06-24)

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