Analysts evaluate the behavior of beer consumers in complex economic scenarios. For some, the big beer companies can continue to make abundant profits even when the economic activity of a country slows down, due to the loyalty of their customers to the product; For other experts, the responsibility lies with the companies and their strategy to make their products more affordable in times of crisis.
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Studies reveal that one of the reasons that allows beer corporations to avoid the tail end of the recession is their offer of premium beers, which are rarely disappointed by their consumer base.
In most cases, craft beer represents a product with a lot of meaning, due to the history of its manufacture or the simple fact of the creation of the brand and, for this reason, companies sometimes expect their customers to understand the reason for the rise in prices of their products and do not abandon the brand, as explained to France 24 Miguel Rivas, storyteller of the brewing industry.
“There is something that must be taken into account and that is that in the same way that the price of beer for consumers increases, the price of production ingredients for breweries is also increasing, both for industrial and craft ones” Rivas pointed out.
“So in the same way that inflation affects the consumer, it is also affecting the producers, and not only them but also the producers of the inputs or ingredients, so it is a whole chain that not only affects the final consumer “, complete.
However, other analysts polled by Reuters believe that in high price scenarios, the first thing people do is cut back on the purchase of alcoholic beverages and recreational activities, a decision that affects the beer industry.
It is there where companies look for strategies to retain their customers with the brand or provide an alternative to take care of the pocket of their buyers without abandoning their consumption.
“The brewer’s job is 30% to make the beer and the other 70% is to educate his consumer and create an experience because that’s the only way the consumer is going to come back. Many are not doing the job of understanding their consumer and creating an experience, because if you educate the consumer to explain why they are paying for beer at the price they are paying for it, the person will understand and leave there happy.” Rivas added.
In United States, according to a 2021 Gallup poll, the average citizen consumes 3.6 personal-size alcoholic drinks per week. In addition, 60% of those surveyed state that they drink any type of alcohol in general.
However, with the arrival of the pandemic, many companies faced another problem: the massive virtualization of purchases, a scenario that complicated the sale of companies that depended on physical stores and caused their profits to drop significantly.
Total US beer sales last month grew 1.8% year-on-year in the 12 weeks ending May 20, according to data from research firms Nielseniq and TD Cowen.
But just in that same month America’s best-selling beer, Bud Light, lost that top spot it had held for more than 20 years. The one who ousted it was the Mexican Modelo Especial beer, a brand that, at least in May of this year, surpassed the American beer in sales.
Modelo accounted for 8.4% of US retail beer sales, while Bud Light fell to second place with 7.3%, according to NIQ data provided to consultancy Bump Williams.
With Reuters and local media.
