BOULDER, Colo.—Craft brewers are toasting another gain in market share, saying they now sell more than 4 percent of all the beer brewed in America.
The Boulder-based Brewers Association said this week that craft beers accounted for 4.04 percent of the U.S. market by volume in 2008, up 0.25 percentage point from the year before.
The association said 2008 craft beer sales were up an estimated 5.8 percent by volume to 8.6 million barrels, and rose 10.5 percent in value to $6.34 billion.
Overall U.S. sales were 213 million barrels and $101 billion. A barrel is 31 gallons.
While domestic craft beer sales were up, import sales in the U.S. were down 3.4 percent by volume, said Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association.
It was the first decline for imports since 1991, he said.
“I think the craft brewers have increased quality so much in the last few years that they’re seen as the best in the world,” Gatza said Tuesday.
Gatza doubted any “buy American” trend was at work but said beer buyers may be more conscious of the environmental costs of long-distance shipping.
He said draft beer sales were up 1.8 percent last year, possibly because people are switching from more expensive wines to beer when they dine out.
The association defines a craft brewer as producing fewer than 2 million barrels a year and brewing traditional malt beers. Craft brewers are also largely independent, with less than a 25 percent ownership stake in the hands of a non-craft brewer under the association’s definition.
Gatza said it’s difficult to predict how well craft beer will fare in the recession.
“I wouldn’t say it’s recession-proof, but it’s recession-resistant. There’s a lot of other things people will give up first,” he said.
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