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    Home > Food News > Food Articles > Is the "spring" of craft beer coming?

    Is the "spring" of craft beer coming?

    • Last Update: 2020-09-16
    • Source: Internet
    • Author: User
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    During last year's World Cup, data from Hungry and Baidu Takeaway showed that in the first four games of the tournament, users ordered 3.05 million crayfish and 400,000 bottles (cans) of beer; As of June 25, 2018, sales of craft beer from all brands across the platform increased by 40%-260% year-on-year.
    the domestic market does not yet have an accurate definition of craft beer, users have begun to demonstrate their preference with action. According to statistics, China's overall beer production fell by about 0.1% year-on-year last year, while total beer sales fell by 4%, the overall beer market gradually saturation, while the craft market is still growing at a rate of 40% per year. At the same time, the domestic high-end beer industry market share of only 4%, but the overall profit has reached 18%. In fact, industry insiders generally believe that as consumption upgrades and personalized demand grows, one of the dividends of China's beer market will be a significant increase in the high-end beer market, while craft beer is seen as one of the key drivers of the future development of the high-end beer industry.
    the development momentum of craft beer should not be underestimated. However, another situation that can not be ignored is that, as the domestic beer industry began to mature, the market share of the top five domestic beer companies (China Resources, Qingdao, Bestweiser, Yanjing, Carlsberg) increased from 55.2% in 2008 to 75.2% in 2017, and the concentration of the industry increased. In addition, according to 2017 data released by Zhi Research Consulting, China's beer factory price is only about half of the world's mainstream level, which also means that the domestic mainstream industrial beer factory prices and prices are generally lower. In this case, the label "small and beautiful" high-end craft beer can be in the domestic beer market industrial beer giant's sandwich, suddenly became one of the beer industry's biggest points of view.thehigh-end breakout came at the same time
    as early as 2000, there were bars selling German-style craft beer and home-brewed beer in Beijing, and until 2008, China had the first truly craft brewers, such as Nanjing's Master (professional factory), Shanghai's Boxing Cat (craft beer house) and so on. However, due to the immaturity of market cognition and the low popularity of craft culture, craft beer did not attract much attention at that time. The industry's relatively accepted saying is that the craft beer market has entered a period of rapid development since about 2015.
    corresponding to this is the slowdown in the growth rate of low-cost industrial beer, the continued growth of beer imports, and the structural adjustment of the industry.
    Since 2014, domestic beer market production and sales have declined for four consecutive years, China's beer industry began to enter a downturn, until 2018 achieved nearly five years of positive growth, but the industry's output is declining year by year, the expansion period of the industry has passed.
    , why is low-end beer starting to grow? A well-known domestic beer brand regional distributors believe that, in the final analysis, or taste of the problem. In the domestic market, the most common domestic beer is a few dollars a bottle of industrial light beer; The taste is lighter, because it adds rice, corn and other starchy accessories to the proportion of raw materials, thereby reducing the content of malt and hops, resulting in a decrease in the concentration of raw wheat juice, fermentation by-products will be reduced, the flavor of beer will also be affected.
    and the "hard wound" in the taste of the product also give imported beer a quick opportunity to open up the market in China. According to statistics, domestic beer imports increased rapidly from 64,203 liters to 646,384 liters in 2011-2016, a tenfold increase in six years, and since 2014, beer imports have exploded for three consecutive years, with a cumulative increase of 426.8 percent. For example, in 2016, Berwick InBever accounted for a relatively high proportion of additional sales in China, with more than 40% of the additional growth coming from imported beer compared to the same period last year, with a significant portion of the growth contribution coming from craft beer.
    , the profits of domestic industrial beer producers are not high. William, the owner of a craft beer bar in Shanghai, says some imported German beer brands retail for 15-25 yuan per bottle or more, but the factory price will not exceed 6 yuan. If you sell through the Internet channels, take the model of volume sales, sales are higher and gross margin is still very high. By contrast, the gross profit per box of domestic beer may be less than 10 yuan.
    in the industry sales stability, to improve the industry's profit income, the only way to use is to increase the price of individual products or adjust the consumption structure. In this regard, there are analysts believe that beer will become the alcoholic beverage market a few need to achieve growth through product quality, consumer consumption, in simple terms, the beer market from "low-end sales" to "high-end by quality" transformation is imperative. Beginning in 2016, the top five domestic beer companies have stepped up efforts to open up the high-end market. Giants such as Tsingtao Brewery have launched IPA products and started to build or participate in craft beer-related events, and not long ago, China Resources Beer, which has the largest domestic beer market share with low- and middle-end products, announced that it had formally completed the acquisition of Heinech's business in Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau, with the intention of upgrading its brand structure and enriching its high-end product line.the road ahead?
    1960s and 1970s, a cultural movement against large-scale industrialization brewed a craft culture that is now popular all over the world. Although Germany, Belgium, Italy and other countries are more popular craft beer, but today's craft culture at the core, the highest overall brewing level of the country is still the United States. An interesting phenomenon is that in the development of craft beer in the United States, the giant's industrial beer brand was caught off guard by small craft breweries. Sales of classic products at some of the giants have fallen as young people's tastes have changed. According to data cited by the Wall Street Journal, U.S. beer sales fell about 4 percent overall between 2008 and 2015, with old brands losing the most;
    but in China, there is a different picture. Although there is plenty of room for growth in the domestic craft market, the survival of small craft breweries still seems to be far worse than in the United States. The reason is that at the policy level, the definition of craft beer in China is still relatively vague, and the norms and support for craft breweries are relatively lacking.
    , it's hard for home-brewing or home-brewing enthusiasts to start their own small craft breweries. First, regulations require that bottled beer produced in China must be certified for quality, and these labels are only available to production lines that produce at least 12,000 bottles per hour - an indicator that is clearly not met by small craft breweries, so many craft beer entrepreneurs choose to "shell" and produce on behalf of them. However, there are great differences between industrial beer and craft beer brewing methods, the cost of building, operating and monitoring the brewing line is high, and the potential quality risk of the findry itself.
    addition, craft beer production process does not use pasteurization and filtration, the shelf life is short, which also means that large-scale production of hoarding books is difficult to achieve. At the same time, China's bottled beer has strict requirements for pasteurization and filtration procedures, but this is a damage to the sediment retention that gives craft beer a unique taste.
    , on the other hand, not only is there no policy tilting towards domestic craft beer production, but some rules facilitate the development of imported brewers. William believes that this has also hindered the growth of domestic craft beer. In the case of Berwick InBever, for example, It is one of the most active players in the battle for market share in Chinese craft beer. In the U.S. market, Berwick InBever has been hit hard by ignoring the growth potential of craft beer, with sales down 35 percent in 2016. It was also during the year that Bafcado began to launch its acquisition of Chicago craft brand Goose Island Beer in Beijing and Shanghai.
    but the involvement of Berwick InBable, many in the industry are not very welcome. On the one hand, China's regulatory environment is relatively weak, Andersen can take some of the U.S. market is not allowed to take advantage of the market. According to William, in the process of promoting Goose Island beer, Berwick InBever will also put pressure on distributors and give them incentives to sell Goose Island beer and reduce the proportion of other craft beer sold. In addition, Berwick InBever is also acquiring small domestic craft beer brands, or offering generous salaries to poach brewing talent. "It's terrible that Best Buy sometimes offers discounts or even free barrels of beer to bars. Before other small craft beer brands have a chance to gain market share, they are smothered in the cradle, resulting in less and less room to live."
    said that although large brewers began producing craft beers such as IPA a few years ago, the beer giants did not give craft products too much promotion and marketing tilt because the craft consumption culture had not yet taken shape. "The intention of these companies may not be to develop craft brews, but more like a complement to and attempt at a high-end product line, often with a less strategic position within the business and relatively loose price controls."
    the dealer believes that in order to address the inventory pressure of this part of the craft beer, large brewers often require the dealer to claim a certain number of craft products. But dealers are also very headache, "usually we mainly sell low-cost products, it is difficult to contact customers interested in these high-priced products;
    this approach also reflects another layer of woes, with China's beer industry as a whole, after years of price wars and consolidation of industry mergers and acquisitions, and a relatively fixed stereotype for consumers through low-priced star products. The high-end transformation of the big brewers may take longer while the cognitive set of "home-made beer - low price" has not yet been fully reversed. opportunities and dilemmas of craft breweries
    it is obviously difficult to sell relatively small craft products in the traditional multi-level distribution mechanism. To this end, many small craft brands inspired by foreign craft beer houses/bars have embarked on a similar path. In the United States, there must be a fine winery within ten miles of some areas. America's fine wineries have a strong community atmosphere, with many bars adopting the former back-of-store business model of making ready-to-drinks rather than bottling. At the same time, the local fine winery will also be through small concerts, winery visits and other rich community activities to gather craft lovers. It is this model that the earliest batch of craft breweries in China learned. For the small craft breweries that lacked marketing money at the time, craft breweries with a variety of scenes, including bars, dining and social gatherings, were also the best point for craft beer to appeal to consumers.
    from an experience perspective, craft beer bar can meet the higher requirements of consumers for taste freshness. Sales of larger craft breweries are falling, while smaller craft breweries that meet local demand are showing more positive growth, according to Euromonitor's American Beer report. In this regard, the analysis pointed out that in the past three years, in the food and beverage and other fields have seen a rapid development of localized products trend;
    , the emergence of craft beer house is also an important part of craft culture landing. One of the characteristics of craft beer, that is, it is attached to the commodity attributes of rich cultural attributes, behind which it represents a non-orderly, emphasis on high-quality, creative and inclusive cultural identity. In William's view, although China's beer production and sales have been in the forefront of the world, but still failed to form a real beer culture;
    in practice, William has also begun to feel pressure from many sources. First, the challenge of online channels. In the past due to the characteristics of heavy low prices, beer online sales channels have not been high, but with the young consumer groups online consumption habits, in order to expand online sales, many craft breweries also began to appear instant distribution business, which means a new increase in labor and packaging costs. Second, the pressure of product innovation. In order to enhance the user's viscosity, the beer house needs to constantly adjust and enrich the SKU. Innovations in process and technology require financial and user feedback data support, which is not easy for single stores with limited volume.
    development of the fine wine bar, which is owned by the big brands, has not been plain sailing. On April 19, 2018, the Kaiba Brewery, acquired by Bafcado, was closed. According to the bar's former employees, Kaiba, Goose Island and other brands after the acquisition of all procurement processes need to pass the layer approval, compared to the pre-acquisition decentralization to store staff management, Kaiba's operational efficiency and flexibility have decreased, resulting in a dismal store operation.
    , it can be seen that the independence of the winery may also affect the quality of beer. While capital intervention may support supply chains and production processes, the unique personalities of wineries and their products are weakened and disappear over time.
    addition, there are many craft beer houses with special meals or environment to create a net red restaurant, thereby driving the consumption of craft beer. In response, William preferred to believe that it was a "curve salvation" and that "any attempt would be worth it as long as it was originally intended to produce good craft beer". (Liu Jun)
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