Tuesday, October 13, 2015 will be known as a huge day in brewing history. It’s the day that the largest macro-breweries in the world decided that craft breweries were such a threat to their success that they must join forces and fight as one worldwide brewery conglomerate. Personally, this tells me that AB InBev and SABMiller knew they couldn’t win the long-term fight against craft brewing.
Perhaps I’m out of line, but this merger could spell the end of “big beer” as we know it. It’s been well-documented that those cans in silver, blue, and red/white aren’t doing as well as they used to. Most of this is due to the large shift in consumer behavior. Basically, people got tired of drinking beer that had no taste. To compensate, brands like Blue Moon were created to give people the “craft beer” experience, which tells me the big boys see the little local craft brewery as a true threat to their continued success.
The mega-merger between AB InBev and SABMiller should be a good thing for local breweries. Already, there is a scandal that is coming to light as the U.S. Justice Department is investigating AB InBev for purchasing distributors to curb the availability of distribution companies allowed to get craft beer to stores. However, what I believe this will do is allow many people fed up with the distribution process to start their own company to get the beer they love into the market. It’s the exact same reason why many breweries get started. The brewers got tired of drinking beer they didn’t like and decided to make their own.
The large merger will only ignite a growing industry to continue to make better beer and ultimately, the consumer will decide what is good and what isn’t. Over the last several years, the consumer is speaking louder and louder. Market share for craft beer is growing, sales of big beer are down with little hope for rebound. With a growing generation of new beer drinkers making their choices in drinking craft beer, it will only cause more desperation from the large mega-brewery in creating new “local” craft breweries to try to trick the consumer. The bottom line is more people will want to visit their brewery and see where their beer comes from. This is exactly why craft brewing is gaining ground on big beer.