A FRAGMENTED MARKET

A black pale ale shouldn’t and cannot be a thing. Innovation such as hard smoothies, pastry beers, double and imperial IPA’s, have kept things interesting, pleasing avid fans. Meanwhile a plethora of fruity flavours aims to stave off the onward march of RTDs, though it has yet to be seen how successfully. But with a total absence of packaging cues across the category, innovation and fragmentation has also made it incredibly hard to shop.

From a million cans with clouds in pastel hues, to cartoon spaceships, skulls, typewriter fonts on mono-coloured backgrounds and countless geometric patterns, browsing the shelf doesn’t make too much sense visually.

WHERE DOES IT GO FROM HERE?

However, the question is, where does the category go from here? Once forging ahead independently and creating its own trends, it's arguably now a follower. Previously known for full flavour and heavy hops, brands such as Beavertown are now backing down and aligning themselves with the wider drinks market. The brewer has just launched its Sunlight Lite Lager, which is not only 3.8%, but deliberately light on hops in order to be sessionable and easy drinking.

There’s no doubt, trends towards moderation and wellbeing have gone against the category in many ways; now that it is forced to meld itself to meet the demands of the day, what does it really stand for?

However, in some ways, they’ve not had to. With the onset of the pandemic, brands had to migrate from a physical presence on shelves, to a digital one. Being instantly visibly identifiable as coming from a particular brewery took prominence over helping consumers navigate the category. To stand out and be found by consumers, brands were relying on a loyalty to themselves only. Now that consumers are back browsing shelves with offerings from a number of brands, many hope that loyalty will hold.

The category needs to focus on a cohesive direction that makes sense with what the category now claims to stand for if it is to keep any distinct identity. There’s no doubt, that craft identity has so far proved lucrative. Will it take an old or new player to do it? Many of the biggest craft brands, from BrewDog to Camden Town have lost their credibility in calling out quality and independence issues among mainstream brands. And many others are going to find their premium priced beers a harder sell in the current squeeze on disposable incomes.

So maybe it will take a new player, focused on liquid alone to bring the focus back to what craft beer is and should be; a nimble, pioneering category, focused on delivering the best possible brew.