To improve Budweiser’s appeal to a new younger crowd Anheuser-Busch InBev has decided to drop the famous Clydesdales from their future marketing campaigns. In “Bud Crowded Out by Craft Beer Craze” the Wall Street Journal reports on a growing trend that we have covered on this blog that points to a surge in popularity for smaller, local based, and smaller batch craft beers. This trend is starting to siphon away the popularity of larger brewers. This niche has now grown to the point that the large brewers are changing their game plan.
In 2013 craft beer represented 8% of the market compared with 2.6% in 1998. Massachusetts has seen success with craft beer, including craft beer’s first billionaire, but it may surprise you that Massachusetts is not among the leaders in the industry. Massachusetts’ 57 craft breweries ranks only 16th in the country, and it’s per capita ranking is only 24th. But those numbers are surging, like in all states.