Although market reports suggest that the U.S. beer market has stabilized following years of modest declines, the segments that have helped the category suggest that consumer preferences have shifted when purchasing brewed beverages.

It was only two years ago that Eugene Kashper, in partnership with a San Francisco-based equity firm, acquired Pabst Brewing Co. In the
Los Angeles-based company’s first year — 2015 — with Kashper serving as chairman and chief executive officer, Pabst Brewing saw its net revenue grow more than 20 percent while also diversifying its product mix.

London-based SABMiller plc and Molson Coors Brewing Co., Denver, reported that its joint venture MillerCoors experienced a second quarter underlying net income decline of 3.8 percent to $468.8 million versus the same period in the prior year. 

London-based SABMiller plc reported total beverage volume growth of 3 percent, on an organic basis, in its first quarter of 2014, which ended June 30. In addition, the company’s group net producer revenue (NPR) was up 6 percent, and group NPR per hectoliter was up 3 percent, both on an organic, constant currency basis, in the term.

Chicago-based MillerCoors, a joint venture between London-based SABMiller plc and Denver-based Molson Coors Brewing Co., saw its net income for the first quarter increase 7.4 percent to $291.9 million compared with the same period in the prior-year period. This income growth was driven by positive pricing and sales mix, cost savings, and lower marketing spending, primarily due to timing differences versus last year, the company says.

Continuing what was seen during the recession, consumers are either buying more premium-priced beers or buying less beer overall, Jennifer Zegler, beverage analyst at Mintel, Chicago, told Beverage Industry in March.