Craft brewery purchasing trends Q2 2016: Brewhouses down, supplies up

Kinnek, an online marketplace for craft brewers, is a great place for craft brewers to buy anything from new pint glasses to new fermenters and at the exact specs and price point needed. In this role, it is also able to glean some unique insights into the purchasing trends of the craft beer industry from this robust transaction data base. Since they are our pals, every now and then they comb that data to provide a snapshot of what’s hot in the industry today.

Trends we’re seeing outside of Kinnek

New growth

Craft brewing continues to grow its market share relative to big brewers and mass craft brewers. A study by the Brewer’s Association focusing on craft brewers (minus larger outfits like Boston Beer) revealed a ~10 percent increase in sales y/y. Anecdotally, the proliferation of small, local brewers at CBC indicated new players entering the industry everyday.

Flavored beer

Flavored beer is growing in popularity as brewers continue experimenting with different combinations including both sweet and savory. These products accounted for 27 percent of the newly launched beer products on the market.

Brewstilleries

Kinnek has spoken with a number of brewers who are looking to build on their brewing operations by also producing spirits. And why not? To a certain point the ingredients and processes are similar, with divergence at the production stage

Trends we’re seeing on the Kinnek Marketplace for the first half of 2016

Change in requests on the marketplace

Here are the biggest changes year to date on the Kinnek marketplace (percent change compared to 2015).

Requests for brewhouses have changed significantly, which may indicate a slowdown in the rate of craft brewery expansions. Overall, however, Kinnek saw an increase in requests for brewery supplies in its craft beverage production category.

While breweries may not be brewing more, this data indicates they may be moving to new ways of packaging or promoting their products, which could be related to perceived or actual increased competition.

State of the brewing union

Here we have a comparison of new and existing breweries per capita, per state across the US.

Montana and Vermont are the hot spots for new breweries in the United States right now, even more so than last year.

In the meantime, established craft brewery areas such as the Pacific Northwest and Northeast remain strong for existing microbreweries. Colorado shows particular strength overall.

For more on Kinnek, check out this feature or hit up its website.