Monday, September 12, 2011

US Beer Sales: Falling Macros

Here is an interesting compilation of eight beers whose sales have declined precipitously from the blog "24/7 Wall St."

Number 1?  Michelob which saw a sales decline from 2006 to 2010 of 72%.  This makes sense as it was ABs 'premium' beer which, it stands to reason, was most subject to competition from micros.

From the blog post:

Most of the beers whose sales declined that much have one thing in common — they are “full-calorie” beers, or about 145 calories a can. Instead, beer drinkers have turned to “light beers,” which have 100 calories a can, and “ultra-lights,” which are closer to 90 calories.

Surprisingly, Budweiser, the best-selling beer in America for years has lost 30% of its sales over the five-year period. Given that Budweiser sold 18 million barrels last year, this is a massive loss – more than 7 million barrels less. Sales of Bud Light, on the other hand, held steady at just over 39 million barrels during the five year period. Six products on our list have lost half their sales since 2005.

Other than lighter-calorie beers, drinkers have also turned to imports, such as Corona, and to craft beers, which are produced, and usually also consumed, in relatively small regions, according to Eric Shepard of beer marketer’s INSIGHTS. Overall, sales of beer from 2005 to 2010 rose 1.9 million barrels to 208.4 million barrels. But sales of the top 20 brands dropped 10 million barrels to 149 million, a sign that Americans have turned to craft beers and imports.

Bud is the number 8 beer on the list.  Go and see the rest here.

2 comments:

priceit said...

It will be interesting to see if this trend continues after the price increases coming in October and November. These increases will widen the gap in price between crafts and domestics and may chase some customers back down to more affordable beer?

Jack R. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.