What is the biggest bug of
craft beer?
In the past two or three years, due to the impact of the epidemic, employment and other factors, the popularity of topics such as consumption degradation and price sensitivity has been rising. However, in a slightly longer time frame, the trend of consumption upgrading cannot be ignored.
Beer is one of the industries with the most obvious upgrading characteristics. According to the data, from 2011 to 2018, the proportion of low-end beer sales decreased from 89.1% to 76.5%, while the growth rate of high-end beer sales fluctuated between 20% and 35%.
As the beer industry moves towards high-end, craft beer with its main flavor and taste is also favored by consumers. According to the estimation of guanyan.com, the compound annual growth rate of China’s craft beer consumption from 2013 to 2020 was as high as 35.38%, far higher than the overall beer industry (- 5.27%).
It seems that craft beer is developing rapidly under the promotion of consumers, but for brands and businesses, it is not easy to eat “cake”. If you are not careful, it will become “cannon fodder”.
According to media reports, from January 5, 2016 to January 5, 2022, among the 5385 enterprises related to craft beer, 1061 enterprises have been cancelled, revoked or closed. According to other data, in 2021, the annual opening rate of domestic craft terminals was 38%, and the annual closing rate reached 35%.
From these data, it is not difficult to find that craft beer brands are undergoing the tempering of “ice” and “fire”, and the fate of many brands may be “death after addiction”.
Quick birth and quick death
“The difference between craft beer and industrial beer is like hand rolling noodles and instant noodles.” This is the evaluation of Li Wei, founder of a craft beer brand.
In Li Wei’s view, craft beer is like “rolling noodles”, which satisfies consumers’ pursuit of classics and individuality. In essence, it is consumption upgrading.
This view can be recognized by a large number of craft beer fans. The experience of some consumers drinking craft beer is more different than that of “instant noodles” and “hand rolling noodles”.
For example, in 2008, Lin Lin drank a bottle of fine brewed beer produced by a Belgian monastery in a Shanghai pub. The media said that the moment it entered the throat, “it was like opening the door of the new world.”.
Consumers have different experiences, and the definition of craft beer is different.
For example, in the United States, the birthplace of modern craft beer, the brewers association has a strict definition of craft breweries, including that the annual output is not more than 6 million barrels, the brewery is not controlled by or less than 25% of the shares of non craft breweries, and there is at least one major product. In more than 50% of the sales volume, no auxiliary materials are used for brewing, or the auxiliary materials are used to increase the flavor rather than reduce the flavor.
There is no need to expand the production and shares. Just increasing the flavor will bring about various changes. This is what makes craft beer most attractive to consumers.
According to media reports, craft beer has a market share of less than 3% in China. It is appropriate for the media to describe it as “extremely low”. 97% of the beer in the market is industrial beer, and its dominant position is self-evident.
On the one hand, the market share is “extremely low”, and on the other hand, the giant monopolizes. If other craft beer brands want to live long and well, they have to do everything they can to be more powerful in this super internal competition.
First, of course, there must be capital support.
According to incomplete statistics, in 2021, the financing of the craft beer brand exceeded 1 billion yuan. Red shirt capital, angel Bay venture capital and Challenger venture capital are the three most frequent “gold owners”.
Even so, a rough calculation of an account shows that the total financing of more than 1 billion yuan a year is not much, and the investment in the construction of a factory is often more than 100 million yuan, not to mention the high cost of 20-30 million yuan of canned equipment and the construction of a channel network.
Second, to get limited investment, we need to make efforts in production and flavor.
In terms of output, the annual sales volume of some domestic craft beer brands with national potential is mostly below 50000 tons. Moreover, some of the sales volume comes from non private brand OEM, and the annual sales volume of more regional independent brands is unable to break the “barrier” of 1000 tons. It is impossible to expand the market. It may be more appropriate to say “generate power for love”.
Flavor is the focus of brands and merchants. In order to reflect the personality of their own beer, the brand strives to carry out differentiated competition in flavor, or adds honey, ginger, honeysuckle and even pepper, “or modulates the fruit flavor craft beer that women prefer.”.
In addition, after launching several craft beers with different flavors, we still need to face the “price war”.
A relatively strong phenomenon is that under the epidemic, the cost of raw materials such as malt and hops, which are highly dependent on foreign supply, soared, but the price of craft beer did not rise by a corresponding margin.
This is because the industry competition is fierce and consumers at all levels are beginning to be price sensitive. Unless there is a strong brand premium, it is difficult to get rid of the “price war”.
Only by overcoming the above obstacles in the competition can the craft beer brand truly stand firm and lay a solid foundation for its long-term development. From this perspective, it is easy to understand that the consumption demand of craft beer continues to grow, while many brands are rapidly growing and dying.
Competing in the existing “extremely low” market, brands and businesses are inevitably caught up in super internal competition. Under this background, it is quite urgent to attract more consumers and open up more market space.
In fact, many brands are trying to make breakthroughs, such as attracting female consumers with flavor, appearance and appropriate price.
According to the media, the background data of a domestic craft beer brand shows that not only male consumers, but also a large number of women who love drinking, “each accounting for half of the sales”.
However, in China, craft beer
2. Inner brewing: more than 5000 enterprises share less than 3% of the market, and Haidilao, honey snow ice city and Yuanqi forest are also included in the market, consumer report
3. In order to break the curse of the minority, craft beer began to “please” women, wired insight
4. “Nanjing Jianghu” of craft beer, Modern Express
5. Craft beer midfield battle: some people can’t support it, the forefront of entrepreneurship
Author: Xiangma; Source: new retail business review (ID: xinlingshou1001), reprinted with authorization.
Reprint authorization and media business cooperation: Amy (wechat: 13701559246);
Join the community: Cherry (wechat: 15262433826).
Food people are “watching”
Craft beer brand, will you die if you are addicted to it?
一个对比强烈的现象是，疫情之下，高度依赖国外供应的麦芽、啤酒花等原材料成本飙升，但精酿啤酒没有迎来相应幅度的涨价。
这是因为，行业竞争激烈，加上各个层次的消费者都开始对价格敏感，除非有较强的品牌溢价，不然很难摆脱“价格战”。
要在竞争中穿越上述重重障碍，精酿啤酒品牌才能真正站稳脚跟，为自身的长远发展打下坚实基础。从这个角度看，精酿啤酒消费需求持续增长，众多品牌却速生速死，也就很容易理解了。
在已有的、份额“极低”的市场里竞逐，品牌和商家难以避免地陷入超级内卷，在此背景下，吸引更多消费者，打开更大的市场空间，变得相当紧迫。
事实上，已经有不少品牌在努力突破，比如用风味、颜值和适当的价格吸引女性消费者。
媒体称，一家国产精酿啤酒品牌的后台数据显示，不仅是男性消费者，还有大量热爱饮酒的女性，“两者各自占据一半的销售额”。
今年6月，消费者报道发布了《啤酒消费习惯问卷调查》，收集到1560份问卷。其中，35.2%的消费者会选择精酿啤酒，但6.9%的消费者表示“没有听说过精酿”，38.3%的消费者“不太了解精酿，但是愿意尝试”。
在和君咨询高级合伙人、酒水事业部主任李振江看来，精酿啤酒的消费者教育依然在起步阶段，向前发展仍然需要“任何资源都替代不了的时间成本”。
李振江进而认为，目前精酿啤酒赛道的最大BUG就在于用户不懂精酿啤酒，“这也为这个行业的巨大发展空间提供惊喜，同时也为这个行业埋下伏雷”。
现实也是如此，一些品牌利用懂得精酿啤酒的消费者不多这一行业现状，以浑浊工业啤酒充当精酿啤酒，用精美包装和拙劣酒质混淆视听等，乱象迭出。
一个饶有意味的案例是，2019年，罗塞尔啤酒中国公司的掌门人公开喊话，要力争成为中国精酿啤酒市场第一品牌，但到了2021年，罗塞尔合肥公司因篡改啤酒生产日期并对外销售，被罚款123万元。
消费群体的培育、扩大，需要时间成本，但显然很多品牌和商家要焦虑得多，以至于走上“歪路”。
另一方面，也有诸多品牌在发力培育消费者。在精酿啤酒行业，创立“高大师”品牌的高岩在行业内摸爬滚打已有14年，他对媒体表示，自己现在最想做的，是继续做好精酿文化推广。“还没有那么多人接受，文化推广的任务还得继续。”
谈及对国内精酿啤酒未来的发展，高岩坦承，在越来越多的人了解、接受精酿啤酒的情况下，不希望它成为杀低价、恶性竞争的一个行业，“需要一系列的规范，让真正从事精酿啤酒文化产业的人从中获益。”
毫无疑问，这将是一场多方角力的“持久战”，冰与火的淬炼、生与死的交错、从小众走到大众的野望，仍将是行业常态。
2. 《内卷的精酿：5000多家企业瓜分不足3%的市场份额，海底捞、蜜雪冰城、元气森林也入局》，消费者报道
3. 《为了打破小众魔咒，精酿啤酒开始“讨好”女性》，连线Insight
5. 《精酿啤酒中场战事：有人撑不住了》，创业最前线
作者：响马；来源：新零售商业评论（ID：xinlingshou1001），转载已获得授权。
转载授权及媒体商务合作：Amy（微信号：13701559246）；
加入社群：Cherry（微信号：15262433826）。
