America’s craft beer industry is in trouble.
Median sales for the craft-beer industry have plummeted 77% since the coronavirus closed bars and restaurants last month. A new survey now shows that most breweries say they can’t survive three months under current conditions, the National Brewers Association reports.
The results of this survey taken last week show a sharp drop in sales and massive furloughs or layoffs across the nation’s 8,150 craft breweries, Oregon Live reports. That same survey indicates that a large number of breweries will be going out of business if social distancing measures don’t let up soon or if swift help isn’t provided by the federal and state governments.
The survey conducted by the Brewers Association reports that roughly 66% of the craft beer industry workforce has been laid off. Additionally, 60% of breweries that filled out the survey say they will close their business in the next three months if conditions don’t change. It’s a dire outlook for the craft beer industry if things keep going the way they are going.
On a slightly brighter note, the report also said that packaged beer saw an uptick in sales by 9.4% at grocery stores and other retail outlets. This increase in sales, however, was mostly from the bigger, more-commercialized beer operations — not craft breweries.
That’s amazing. Everyone I know has been drinking a lot more craft beer since this quarantine started. The smart ones have adapted for the current climate by arranging drive-throughs, delivering to people’s houses, and continuing to ship to local stores. I’ve never had two cases of craft beer sitting in my mud room before all of this started.
I’m sure as hell not going to sit in my house and drink the piss water that’s cheaper than the local stuff. Bad taste isn’t worth it, especially in isolation.