Industry Analysis & Industry Trends
Craft beer and microbrewery operations are kept small in order to maintain a focus on quality. Because of their small size, though, they do not have the ability to negotiate larger supply or distribution contracts, forcing such breweries to charge higher prices. Despite this fact, craft beers, microbrews, brewpubs and gastropubs have all been growing in popularity among US beer drinkers. This trend has been driving demand for the industry's products in recent.... purchase to read more
Industry Report - Starting a New Business Chapter
The barriers to entry into the Craft Beer Production industry are low to moderate. The basic brewing equipment can be purchased at a relatively low cost, and many operators can access personal lines of credit to launch microbreweries. Gaining access to raw material inputs such as hops and packaging materials (i.e. aluminum cans and glass bottles) is not significantly challenging, although smaller operators will be at a competitive disadvantage to larger operators who can benefit from economies of scale and can buy larger volumes of raw materials at a discount. Smaller breweries are disproportionately exposed to fluctuations in input costs and may be forced to charge higher prices for their products... purchase to read more