By Andy Young
A survey of readers of TheShout shows that craft and low carb beers are set for the most growth in 2016.
The poll asked: "Which beer segment will see the most growth in 2016?", with the options including: Craft; Full Strength; International Premium; Low Alcohol; Low Carb; Mid-Strength.
It is perhaps not surprising to see that the majority of people who voted, believe the craft beer boom will continue, with 50.91 per cent of those who voted backing craft to see the most growth in 2016.
That reflects the most recent IRi data, which shows that to 3 January 2016 craft beer accounts for 6.5 per cent of the off-premise packaged beer market by value. The craft segment saw 20.7 per cent growth on the same period last year. Volume-wise craft has 4.5 per cent of the off-premise market, with 22.2 per cent growth on the same period last year; by far the biggest value and volume growth of any of the beer segments.
As Shane Richardson, managing director of Coca-Cola Amatil's alcohol and coffee division told TheShout earlier this month: "There's plenty more to come from the craft beer category." He added his own hopes for Yenda, which is part of CCA's The Australian Beer Company, "We've just got to keep doing things the right way with Yenda. We've got an extremely well-regarded brand in Yenda Hell and the exciting thing for me is that you see or hear consumers talking positively about a brand."
While growth in craft may strike many as the obvious choice, low-carb beer being voted as the second most likely to see growth in 2016, may surprise some. The IRi data shows, that the low-carb segment is the third largest by value in off-premise, with 15.4 per cent of the market and 14.8 per cent by volume.
Earlier this month TheShout spoke with Mim Orlando, Pure Blonde's marketing manager with Carlton and United Breweries and he said: "I think that the consumer desire for a healthier lifestyle is one of the major trends which is pushing low-carb to be the third highest beer segment by value. But I also think that we have been able to provide a beer that tastes really good, but is also providing some alternatives for consumers.
"So in my mind there isn’t a taste compromise in low-carb, it really is a win-win from a taste perspective. And that’s a real focus for us, first and foremost it’s to be making a great tasting beer and then we’re also looking at the benefits of that brew.
"We’ve got some really incredible brewers here and we’ve pushed them really hard and they are really excited by the challenge of it and by some of the things are that we are thinking about for Pure Blonde."
Low-carb came second with 21.82 per cent of the vote, ahead of International Premium with 10.91 per cent, Mid-Strength gained 7.27 per cent of the vote while Full Strength won 5.45 per cent and Low Alcohol came last with 3.64 per cent of the vote.