world, but there is no doubt
that they’ll soon achieve the
level of success the craft
beer industry has managed
to attain.
The craft beer industry is
far ahead of its alcoholic
beverage contemporaries
because it has been around
since the 1970s, which is
the decade when the craft
beer movement picked up
steam and surprised the
country with a new kind of
beer. In this decade, regional
breweries and pubs all over
the United States started to
consolidate and close due to a
series of massive acquisitions
and mergers conducted by
huge conglomerates. As the
American brewing landscape
was starting to shrink in terms
of size and variety, a couple
of innovative homebrewers
realized that the only way they
could keep on experiencing
different beer fl avors, tastes,
and traditions was to craft
the beer themselves. Thus,
the craft brewing industry
was born.
It was in the 1980s when
the practice of crafting your
own style of beer became
more widespread across
the country. The brewing
techniques that homebrewers
used started to improve
as time went by, which
resulted in better quality
craft brews. Microbreweries
and brewpubs also started to
pop up in huge numbers, and
their common goal was to
introduce exceptional beers
of diverse qualities to their
local communities.
The 1980s period was
kind of a struggle for
the microbreweries,
brewpubs, and independent
homebrewers due to the
reliance of consumers
on more established and
aggressively marketed
beer products from larger
companies. However, it was
defi nitely the beginning of the
highly successful movement
that we now know today.
The fi rst half of the 1990s
was the exact period when
the craft brewing trend
gained momentum and never
looked back. The number of
craft brewers in the country
skyrocketed to 537 in 1994,
up from only 8 in 1980.
Without the passion and
innovation of the pioneer
craft brewers back in the
1980s, the American brewing
landscape today would
definitely look a lot more
different and bland, and we’d
be stuck with mass-produced
brews that offer little or no
variation in terms of fl avor,
aroma, and mouthfeel.
Today, there are more than
6,000 microbreweries all
across the United States,
and the success and rapid
growth of these craft beer
breweries inspired the
alcoholic beverage producers
from other industries to
create their own versions of
craft drinks. Everyone from
vineyard growers to cider
producers were among those
who were enthralled by
the entire concept of craft
brewing, so craft ciders and
wines were born as a result.
There are many reasons why
consumers tend to purchase
mainstream alcoholic
beverages more. Among
those reasons are comfort,
marketing, and availability.
Drink Asia
19
more attention to detail and
spend more time on each
batch they create, which
means that craft alcoholic
drinks are more likely to taste
better than the traditional
mainstream brews. Lastly,
since there are over 6,000
microbreweries in the
country, each with a different
brewing technique and usage
of ingredients, it means that
the variation of qualities and
tastes is something that you
should expect from a craft
alcoholic beverage, whether
it’s beer, wine, or cider.
The average consumer
prefers to keep on buying
products they are more
familiar and comfortable
with, and this applies to all
industries. Marketing is also
a huge factor since everything
from billboard advertisements
to TV commercials can
influence the mind of a
consumer to buy a particular
product. Lastly, mainstream
beverages are more
accessible in supermarkets
and small stores because of
their popularity.
The trend of buying
mainstream alcoholic
beverages is starting to die
down a little bit because
of the rapid rise of craft
alcoholic beverages. More
consumers are starting
to become aware of the
superiority of craft drink
products over mainstream
beverages, especially when
it comes to taste and quality.
Apart from that, craft
beverage producers pay
March-April 2020
As the popularity of craft
alcoholic drinks grows, so
does the demand for it. Good
thing though that American
beverage wholesalers, such
as Imperial India, are helping
craft drink producers and
their specialty products
reach more consumers by
wholesaling, distributing,
and supplying the goods to
fellow beverage traders,
commercial businesses, and
even homeowners. Because
of how the relationship
between craft drink
producers and beverage
wholesaling businesses work,
you can say that they both
benefit from each other
equally.
As of this writing, the craft
alcoholic beverage industry
as a whole is strong and
healthy. I’m not trying to
take away anything from
mainstream drink products,
because they defi nitely are
amazing in their own right,
but one cannot simply deny
the edge that craft beverages
have over them.
Source:
www.oldliquorsmagazine.com