Quote:
Originally posted by valkyrie
Along with lack of growth in real incomes beer companies are feeling the effect of consumers "trading up."
"If you look at what's growing in the beer industry, it's import and craft beers. They're higher priced and perceived as luxury products," said Harry Schuhmacher, publisher of the Beer Business Daily newsletter. "And so if you look at the whole alcohol category, people perceive wine and spirits as high-end, so there's some trading up between beer and wine and spirits."
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I take issue with the last two paragraphs. I guess I can only speak for myself, but I drink (a lot of) what would be considered "craft beers" -- not because I'm "trading up" or because it's "high end" or "luxury" or whatever -- it's because it TASTES GOOD. The concept of trying to project an image with your choice of beverage is bizarre.
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And real quick on this subject...is it possible that craft beers are simply more accessible now then they were in the past? I'm sure Harry Schuhmacher knows more than I do about trends in the beer industry, but it just seems that in the past 10 years or so, the whole microbrewery-as-restaurant concept has become more popular, which would expose drinkers to different beers. I think Rock Bottom was the first place I actually tried a microbrew rather than a run of the mill brewski, which got me interested in trying new things. That may be why higher end beers are enjoying more of a growth than the middle of the road ales.
Hybrid Mode
