Five of ten biggest craft brewers in bed with international brewers
US craft brewers are becoming more global, but not in a way you would have thought: it’s through takeovers or buy-ins by AB-InBev, Heineken, Mahou San Miguel, Sapporo, Duvel Moortgat, and FIFCO.
As the trade publication Beer Marketers Insights wrote recently, Mahou San Miguel’s transcation to buy 30 percent of the craft brewer Avery Brewing in Colorado in November 2017 has sparked new thinking about the penetration of US craft beer by international players.
Currently, five of the top ten US craft brewers are, at least, partly-owned by international brewers. Although they are no longer recognised by the Brewers Association, they are still ranked as craft by Beer Marketers Insights.
Already in 2016, AB-InBev collectively ranked number two in craft thanks to its acquired US breweries. In 2016, AB-InBev sold an estimated 1.4 million hl craft beer. That’s more beer than was sold by privately-owned Sierra Nevada. The volume figure for AB-InBev excludes its 30 percent stake in Craft Brew Alliance as well as all the craft brewers taken over by the world’s number one brewer in 2017. If included, AB-InBev’s volume sales could be well over 2.4 million hl.
Another big player is Heineken, thanks to now fully owning Lagunitas Brewery, which represented 1.1 million hl beer in 2017. Lagunitas is in the same league as New Belgium Brewery.
Most likely, in 2017 AB-InBev was ranked number two craft brewer behind Boston Beer, whereas Heineken was ranked fourth. Together, AB-InBev and Heineken are close to controlling ten percent of the craft beer segment as defined by Beer Marketers Insights.
Two other international players, Spain’s Mahou San Miguel and Belgium’s Duvel Moortgat, could also be in the craft top ten in 2017. By owning a 30 percent share in Avery and in Founders Brewery (Michigan), the Spanish now have a stake in their combined sales of 600,000 hl beer. What’s more, their output is rising. As says Beer Marketers Insights, Founders alone increased its sales by nearly 30 percent in 2017. Blessed with deep pockets, Mahou will continue its shopping tour in the US.
Belgium’s Duvel owns the majority of Firestone Walker Brewery (California), all of Boulevard Brewery (Kansas) and Ommegang Brewery (New York), which collectively brewed about 700,000 hl beer in 2017. Firestone Walker is also said to be growing in the double digits.
Coming up fast in craft rankings is another major brewer, namely Molson Coors, through its US subsidiary MillerCoors. In the US, MillerCoors bought into four craft brewers that will collectively sell several hundred thousand hl beer in 2017. Apart from those, MillerCoors has a market share of 25 percent of the US beer market.
Last year Japan’s brewer Sapporo bought the Anchor Brewery in San Francisco, which sold only about 150,000 hl beer in 2016. Its sales dropped again in 2017. Yet combined with its import brands, Sapporo is now a 460,000 hl beer company in the US.
Another notable international player is NAB (North American Breweries), which is owned by the Costa Rican conglomerate FIFCO. NAB sold 3.2 million hl beer in 2016. Most of the sales must be attributed to its biggest selling brands Genesee and Labatt (under licence). But it also owns three craft breweries: Magic Hat (Vermont), Pyramid (Seattle), and Portland Brewing Company (Oregon). About 200,000 hl beer are attributed to Magic Hat and Pyramid alone. Although NAB has seen its craft beer volume nearly cut into half over the past five years – it stagnated in 2017 – it is still in the hunt as it retains the ambition of doubling its total volume by 2020.
Last, but not least, there is Japan’s brewer Kirin which owns just under 25 percent of Brooklyn Brewery. Brooklyn is a 300,000 hl brewer.
If you tote up the estimated craft beer sales in 2017 of these eight international players ‒ AB-InBev, Heineken, Mahou San Miguel, Duvel Moortgat, Molson Coors, Kirin, Sapporo, NAB ‒ you arrive at a total of 5.8 million hl craft beer. This translates into a 20 percent share of the segment as Beer Marketers Insights defines it.
Beer Marketers Insights concludes: These players are not dominating the segment yet, but they are increasingly leaving a mark on US craft beer.
