Dive Brief:
- The beer industry is responsible for more than 2.23 million jobs and provides more than $103.3 billion in wages for U.S. workers, according to Beer Serves America, a new report from the Beer Institute and the National Beer Wholesalers Association.
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Brewers and beer importers employ 64,745 U.S. workers, and approximately 58% of brewing jobs are linked to large and mid-sized brewers and beer importers.
- The number of distributor jobs has grown approximately 24% over the last decade, coming in at about 134,240.
Dive Insight:
While other countries may seem to be the bigger players in the beer industry, it also powers a significant portion of the U.S. economy and is a big source of jobs and economic activity.
Overall, the report says, the beer industry contributes more than $350 billion in economic output — equal to nearly 1.9% of the U.S. gross domestic product. But this isn't all generated by those who brew the beer. Suppliers to the brewing industry — including those who manufacture bottles and cans, cardboard case boxes, brewing equipment and marketing displays — spur about $115.3 billion in economic activity and are responsible for 491,800 jobs.
Beer is an industry that has been both growing and shrinking in recent years. Major brewing companies have grown, especially with last year's mega-merger of AB InBev and SABMiller. The deal, valued at more than $100 billion, puts at third of the world's beer sales in the hands of a single corporate entity, which is now known simply as AB InBev.
But craft beer, the product of smaller businesses, has also taken off. According to statistics Boston Beer Chairman Jim Koch shared at a conference last month, there were 5,005 U.S. breweries at the end of 2016 — a sharp increase from the 1,447 in 2005. Koch said most of the growth is from craft breweries.
Larger companies have been moving in on some craft breweries, most recently with AB InBev and Heineken scooping up Lagunitas Brewing Company and Wicked Weed Brewing. While this has caused some tension in the industry, it is unlikely to impact jobs and economic impact. According to statistics from the U.S. Treasury Department, Americans' thirst for beer and U.S. production levels have stayed pretty constant over the last few years. In 2013, the U.S. produced 191.1 million barrels of beer. It slipped only slightly to 189.2 million barrels in 2016.