USA: Brewers Association names "Tiger" Brewers

The Brewers Association (USA) announced on May 18 its "Tiger List" for 2005: the top 10 craft brewers ranked by a combination of size and 2004 growth percentage.

"Displaying aggressive growth, the entire craft beer industry shows the traits of a tiger right now," said Charlie Papazian, President of the Brewers Association. "Nationwide, we have strong craft beer brands that show impressive growth performance."

Each year the Brewers Association collects volume sales information from the country's 1400 craft brewers to assess and track the progress of the craft beer segment. In 2004, the overall segment grew by 7.2 percent and the Tiger List shows why.

"We put together the Tiger List by assessing both brewery size and 2004 growth percentage," said Ray Daniels, Director of Craft Beer Marketing at the Brewers Association. "These ten have the best combined rank on those two criteria."

The term "tiger" was commonly used to describe the rapidly growing economies of seven Asian countries during the 1990s. "Given the relative size of these brewers in the overall beer industry and their aggressive growth, we felt the analogy was a good one," says Daniels.

2005 Brewers Association Tiger List
Top ten brewing companies based on an index of size and growth performance.
(Some companies operate multiple breweries.)
1. Widmer Brothers Brewing Co (OR)
2. Pyramid Breweries (WA)
3. New Belgium Brewing Co (CO)
4. Boulevard Brewing Co (MO)
5. Deschutes Brewery (OR)
6. Kalamazoo Brewing Co (MI)
7. Magic Hat Brewing Co (VT)
8. Harpoon Brewery (MA)
9. Rogue Ales (OR)
10. Kona Brewery LLC (HI)

These ten brewers averaged 115,000 barrels (1.5 million cases) in sales during 2004 for a total of 1.15 million barrels (15.7 million cases). The average growth rate for these ten was 28 percent with total volume growth of 21 percent in aggregate. Size was based on reported 2004 sales barrelage and growth was based on the percent change in sales barrelage from 2003 to 2004.

"Few industries today can boast a list of established players with this sort of growth record," said Paul Gatza, Director of the Brewers Association. "And while this list includes just ten brewing companies, the trend extends to all portions of the craft beer business."

The Tiger List includes regional brewers from across the United States, with representatives from New England, the Midwest, the Northeast and even Hawaii. Oregon is the only state with more than one brewery on the list and it hosts three of the ten.

"These ten exemplify the current trend in the industry where established brands continue to grow at impressive rates as good beer becomes a regular part of the American lifestyle." said Daniels. "That propelled the growth of the entire segment by 7.2 percent in 2004."

The Brewers Association estimates 2004 sales by all craft brewers at 6,590,763 31-gallon barrels up from 6,150,497 barrels in 2003, an increase of 440,266 barrels or 6.0 million case-equivalents. By contrast, spirits volume increased at 3.1 percent for the year and wine volume was up 2.7 percent. The import and mass-market segments of the beer industry rose approximately 1.4 percent and 0.5 percent in volume respectively in 2004.

The craft beer segment includes more than 1400 breweries who produce primarily all-malt beers. It includes brewpubs (brewery/restaurant), microbreweries (less than 15,000 barrels per year) and specialty brewers. The association has tabulated industry growth data for these breweries annually since 1985.

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