Report: For Small and Large Breweries, the U.S. Market Is Open

Research from BCG Perspectives says that the U.S. beer market is open, freely competitive, and driven by consumer choice. Breweries who capture the hearts of consumers are the most likely to succeed. Those who miss shifts in consumer identities, norms, attitudes, and tastes will suffer.

The success of small breweries making craft beers is proof of these points. Despite fears that small breweries can’t compete against the scale and reach of large, mass-market breweries, the opposite has proved to be true. The ability of small breweries to gain access to the marketplace through independent distributors is a major reason that small breweries are able to exist at all. Considering that only the top ten small breweries generate more than $20 million in revenues annually, according to the Craft Brew Alliance, building a stand-alone distribution system would be cost prohibitive. Without independent distributors, most small breweries would have to cope with far less access to the market and consumers, and far lower growth rates.

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