Craft beers continuing to win share from premium and imports in on-premise

Nov. 25, 2012 - PRLog -- LEESBURG, VA -- According to GuestMetrics, based on its proprietary database of POS transactions from restaurants and bars, craft beers continued to take aggressive share from premium and import beers over the course of the first nine months of 2012.  “Comparing the first three quarters of 2012 against the same period in 2011, craft beers experienced rapid growth in the on-premise space,” said Bill Pecoriello, CEO of GuestMetrics LLC.  According to Pecoriello, during that time period, craft beers grew sales +10.7% from the prior year, while imports contracted by -1.3%, premium light beers by -1.6%, and premium regular beers by -2.9%.  

“This large disparity in growth rates led to fairly rapid shifts in market share in the on-premise space, with craft beer winning share directly at the expense of premium and import brands,” said Pecoriello.  Based on data from GuestMetrics, comparing the first three quarters of 2012 against the similar timeframe from 2011, craft beers gained +220bps of share, while premium regular lost -30bps of share, premium light lost -100bps of share, and imports lost -110bps of share.  

“As consumer tastes continue to evolve, and the variety and selection among craft beers continues to expand, it will be critical to closely monitor these trends on a month-to-month basis, and to see if the large brewers are able to stem the tide of share losses, whether through creative marketing, acquisition of craft brands, or brand extensions,” said Pecoriello.

About GuestMetrics LLC

GuestMetrics, LLC is revolutionizing how the hospitality industry operates.   GuestMetrics has cracked the code, turning billions of raw transactions into intelligible data that is fundamentally transforming the business operations of everyone from the independently-owned bar/restaurant on the corner, to multi-national chains, to the food & beverage companies that supply them. GuestMetrics is currently gathering data POS from tens of thousands of restaurants, bars and hotels across the U.S.   Please visit www.GuestMetrics.com for more information, to arrange for a free demonstration and to join our email list.