The latest on the beer industry from BeverageDaily.com

The industry newsletter,  BeverageDaily.com, offers a collection of recent articles about the beer business.

• Brewers Association: Microbreweries and taprooms are ‘clearly the growth engine of craft’:  The US craft beer industry is seeing most of its current and predicted future growth coming from small-scale operations like local microbreweries and taprooms, a shift away from regional breweries with multi-state distribution footprints, according to the Brewers Association… Read
• Low calorie, vegan and gluten-free beers win favor with millennial consumers: Low-calorie, vegan and gluten-free are likely to be winning attributes for beer brands who want to appeal to millennials, according to GlobalData… Read
• New era of brewing? YCH Hops sees interest around proprietary Cryo Hops:  Cryo Hops, developed by YCH Hops using a patent-pending process, has generated a buzz with brewers as the highly-concentrated ingredient means breweries, in theory, can use half the amount of hops to achieve the same desired beer flavor profiles… Read
• Oskar Blues sees adoption of larger format craft beer packaging on the rise:  After being among the first craft breweries to can its beer nearly 20 years ago, Oskar Blues of Colorado has introduced its latest packaging innovation of 24-can variety packs using collated shrink packaging engineered by The Dow Chemical Company. And the brewer says larger formats like this are now catching on in the craft category… Read
• O-I to close US plant following ‘continued decline of beer’: Owens-Illinois (OI) says it has finalized plans to stop production at its Atlanta, GA, plant on or after July 18… Read
• Japan’s major beer breweries scramble for a place in canned cocktail market:  Traditional beer manufacturers Asahi, Suntory and Kirin are extending their presence into the canned cocktail market… Read
• Irish Distillers acquires craft brewer Eight Degrees Brewing
• Pernod Ricard owned Irish Distillers – a supplier of spirits and wines and producer of Jameson Irish whiskey – has acquired craft brewer Eight Degrees Brewing… Read
• Scotland introduces minimum unit pricing for alcohol: Scotland has become the first country in the world to introduce minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol, with legislation coming into effect this week… Read
• ‘Optimism and dynamism’ among independent UK brewers: In the UK, 63% of independent brewers say they expect their turnover to increase this year: showing ‘the optimism and dynamism’ of the sector against a backdrop of unprecedented competition and continued dominance of big beer, according to SIBA, the UK’s society of independent brewers… Read
• Corona charm: What can food makers learn from Latin America’s most valuable brand?  Corona leads the throng of beer brands that dominate the 2018 BrandZ Top 50 most valuable Latin American Brands list, and with only three food companies ranked it begs the question: what can industry learn from the likes of Corona and Skol?.. Read
• What – exactly – is ‘alcohol free’?  In Europe, an ‘alcohol-free’ drink is defined as one under 0.5% ABV. In the UK, however, an ‘alcohol-free’ drink must be 0.05% ABV or below. But the UK’s definition could change, with the government currently consulting on new regulations for low alcohol drinks labelling… Read
• Australian alcohol advertising code in need of ‘thorough review’ for failing to protect teens:  Current alcohol advertising regulations in Australia are failing to protect the health and well-being of adolescents, with academics claiming that it is leading to an environment that is ‘not consistent with the responsible marketing spirit’… Read