Can Beer Recapture its EDGE?

摘要

The state of the beer industry in 2005 might depend on whether you're the kind of person who likes to hear the good news or bad news first. But both optimists and pessimists would agree that brewers in the United States are facing a marketplace that is very different than it was even a few years ago. According to Euromonitor International, U.S. brewer volumes were essentially flat last year, with a decline from 23.892 billion liters in 2003 to 23.888 billion in 2004. More segment-specific figures include those from the Brewers Association, based on data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, which reports that "mass market" beers grew 0.5 percent in volume in 2004, while pricier imports and craft beers gained 1.4 percent and 7 percent, respectively.