
A few weeks ago I stumbled upon an Instagram Reel where a man was stating that he actually understood why gas prices go up, but couldn’t understand why a pint of beer was, what he referred to as, expensive.
Hopefully, you’re like us and you don’t get that type of feedback from customers. However, whenever I see a Reel that discusses one situation I wait for it to snowball into a trend.
If the cost of a pint is going up, the actual element that didn’t bother this man would be the root of the problem.
However, a few months ago curiosity grabbed a hold of me and I was interested in the inflated impact of pints over time — yes, I felt that this time could have been used for something better, but here we are.
I found a neat breakdown on The Brookston Beer Bulletin tracking the cost of a pint from 1952 to 2016 with inflation adjustments.
Certainly, the cost per pint in actual price has gone up substantially, but what will shake you is the inflation price over the same period — beginning at $5.93 in 1952 (65 cents) and ending at $3.99 in 2016, respectively.
While consumer costs have gone up across the board, even with the infusion of craft brewing the cost per pint has actually gone down and hasn’t followed other consumer trends — all while the cost of doing business has increased dramatically.
The brewing industry’s employment isn’t alone from other companies around the world. Everyone wants more money — and unfortunately needs more — to live day-to-day.
Craft brewing has fallen into the trap of becoming a passion workplace for many. Top salaries are being sacrificed across the board to work in fun, unique, and innovative environments rather than following the path of extreme financial success.
Certainly, there are breweries out there that can offer unique perks such as health insurance and 401K plans, but for the vast majority, we’re simply fighting the good fight to make payroll each week.
The battle between craft breweries and distribution companies becomes more and more difficult with each passing day. And, while self-distribution can save you on percentages, the cost of moving the needed volume can be daunting.
A sad truth about business ownership today is that you’re not just competing with big beer brands. Instead, you’re competing with major corporations for top-end employees with salaries — including packages most of us can’t even begin to compete with.
I would argue that the vast majority of brewery owners over the past decade didn’t get into the business as a “get-rich-quick” scheme. However, simply trying to pay one’s bills can get stressful in the most recent economic environment.
In a conversation a couple years ago with an owner in Northern Ohio, the topic shifted to a consumer recession. I personally recalled how Founders Brewing told me that they really took flight as a brewery during the economic recession in 2008 and maybe the next recession was something breweries could look forward to. However, the contention from this Ohio-based owner was that the consumer recession would affect goods versus housing as we saw in 2008, thus driving out a lot of breweries and making ends not meet.
Personally, I’m a numbers fan. I love diving into our brewery’s data and discovering what moves our clientele. We’re also mildly innovative and open to unique opportunities such as cider and seltzer creation — both of which have assisted in diversifying our consumer base.
The craft industry is highly resilient to economic crises, but not without some pain. While we saw tremendous growth through the 2010s, this decade seems to be starting off slow — not to mention a global pandemic that stifled a lot of growth.
In my professional opinion, the price of a pint is exactly where it should be. Not only that, but I think that we’re in a good position to tackle more volume share in the future. Craft can be more versatile than larger corporations and tackle new products quickly.
This is not the time for us to hang our heads and get discouraged. Every day in business can’t be all sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes we have to deal with the storms. It will be those of us who can hang tight that will prosper and see another day in the sun.
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