Huge growth in canned and low and no-alcohol craft beers revealed
A MAJOR switch towards canned packaging and an exponential increase in low and no-alcohol beers are amongst the key trends taking place in the craft beer market, according to new industry research.
The Craft Beer Trends report from online beer distributor EeBria Trade is based on information on the UK market and uses data from over 600 craft breweries.
The research underlined the significant move by brewers from bottles to cans in recent years; just 16% of all packaged craft beer was in can format in 2016. That figure was revealed to have grown to now represent 72% of the market.
Breweries which have made the switch from bottles to cans found on average their rate of sale tripled, the report claimed.
Can-do: cans now account for 72% of the UK’s craft beer market, according to EeBria Trade.
Within cans, the larger 440ml can is said to have become the most popular with craft beer drinkers.
The report’s other key finding marked the rise in low and no-alcohol beers in the last two years, showing growth of 381%, with almost 3% of all craft beer sold being under 2.8% ABV and below and 1.2% of all craft beer being no more than 0.5% ABV.
CEO and co-founder of EeBria Trade, David Jackson, said: “Craft beer is a rapidly growing area of the beer industry, but it can be hard to track what’s going on in such a fast-moving space.
“At EeBria Trade we work with over 600 breweries through our beer distribution marketplace, so have access to an enormous amount of data on the industry.
“It’s exciting to be able to identify trends whilst they’re happening and be able to see in numbers what we already believe is happening.”
