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28th March 2007

More craft brew in supermarkets

posted in Beer, Craft Brewers, News | written by Al |

Over at the “Brew” Blog, an industry-focused blog sponsored by the Miller Brewing Company, notes that craft beers increased their shelf space at retailers by 16%, according to ACNielsen. They note that this shouldn’t be surprising since craft beer shipments increased nearly 12% in 2006. They also note that imports also increased their shelf space by 6.5%.

The big question now is how much space crafts and imports will gain as retailers reset their shelves this spring — and what brands will lose out.

‘Round these parts supermarkets don’t sell alcohol. My preferred retailer devotes a majority of their space to craft beers and imports. Oh, sure, there’s some megabrews, but it’s not like they’re taking up half of the space. Of course, the convenience store down the road only has mainstream offerings; I think the most exotic thing they have is Killian’s Irish Red.

How about you? Have you noticed more or less craft brews where you buy beers?

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 28th, 2007 at 9:44 am and is filed under Beer, Craft Brewers, News. Tagged: , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

There are currently 2 responses to “More craft brew in supermarkets”

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  1. 1 On March 28th, 2007, Ron said:

    I live in New York. Grocery stores can sell beer, but beverage centers can’t sell wine and liquor. (wine and liquor can’t sell beer)

    At my beverage center, the entire center of the store is stacked with piles and piles of 12 packs, 15 packs, 24 packs, 30 packs (maybe more) of domestic American megabrewed beer. I don’t think they sell it in less than 12 packs. But, they also have a section of piles of 12 packs and cases of “better” beer, namely your highly popular better beer like Sam Adams, Saranac, Guinness, Bass, Stella Artois, etc. Then, they also have an entire wall shelved with 6 packs of many varieties of craft beer, both domestic and imported. This beverage center has never adjusted the allocation of space that I have noticed.

    The real story is at the grocery store where space is limited. I have noticed that they seem to be carrying more and more craft beer, especially some regional ones. In the refrigerator section, however, the percentage of space has remained the same, they just seem to cram more varieties of craft beer in the same space. But, (and this is very cool) in order to accommodate even more craft beer, they have started placing end-caps all over the store with all sorts of craft beer, mostly regional. So, the percentage of “shelf space” at the grocery store has definitely been expanded for craft beer, though it is mostly regional and popular varieties.

  2. 2 On March 29th, 2007, Chemgeek said:

    The selection is slowly increasing in my neck of the woods.

    All alcohol (beer, wine, liquor) in my state must be purchased from a liquor store. Only 3.2% beer is sold anywhere else. This reduces the exposure of craft beers to the general public.

    I hope the selection continues to increase around here. I hope the increasing trend is a national trend.

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