Just like the stock market has seen its share of highs and lows, the U.S. beer market also has had its own ebbs and flows. Despite some single-digit declines that were peppered in throughout the past decade, the beer market seems to have leveled out, experts note.
“The beer market has stabilized over the past couple of years after declining between 1 and 2 percent in 2009-2011 and then again in 2013,” says Brian Sudano, managing partner with Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC), New York. “However, the slowdown of craft and [flavored malt beverages] (FMBs) in the second half of 2016 has put pressure on the category as seen by the 2 percent drop in third quarter depletions and 6 percent drop in beer shipments in October.”