Almost a third of beer drinkers surveyed by Mintel in the US are drinking less craft beer than they did one year ago, because of the price.
Mintel’s survey, published last week, highlights that, although craft beer has far outshone a lacklustre mainstream beer market in the US in the last 12 months, producers should be wary of raising prices.
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“Price is a deterrent for some drinkers when it comes to trying or purchasing craft beers,” said the market research agency. Its December survey found that 29% of respondents – the number of which was not disclosed – were drinking less craft beer than at the same point in 2009.
Most respondents said that they consider craft beer an “affordable luxury”. However, 41% said that they only drink craft beers as a treat, because they are expensive.
Craft beer sales in the US rose by 12% in value and by 9% in volume in the first half of 2010, against a total beer market down by around 3% over the same period.
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Young adults are the most likely to drink craft beer, according to Mintel. “Craft beer is most popular with the 25-34-year-old crowd, so manufacturers would be wise to target this demographic and educate them more about artisan beers,” said senior analyst at Mintel, Garima Goel Lal.
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By GlobalDataGoel Lal’s comments echo the view of Boston Beer Co founder Jim Koch, who said at a conference last year: “Twenty-somethings are adopting craft beer in the same way that their millennial parents adopted wine. For them, craft beer is the new wine.”
