Beer Dominates Alcoholic Beverage Market
Beer is the dominant category in the alcoholic beverage industry with a 47.8% market share of the gross supplier revenue figures for 2014.
March 31 2015, Updated 11:05 a.m. ET
Overview
Beer is the major alcoholic beverage category in the United States and internationally. There are more than 3,000 brewers in the United States alone, ranging from large scale to microbreweries and brewpubs. Anheuser Busch InBev (BUD) (ABI.BR) is the market leader in the beer industry.
Beer comes in different styles, including pale lager, light beer, malt liquor, ice beer, dry beer, and craft beer. Beverages account for 19.6% of the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP).
Beer is a major category
According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, beer is the dominant category in the alcoholic beverage industry with a 47.8% market share of the gross supplier revenue figures for 2014.
Distilled spirits and wine accounted for 35.2% and 17.0%, respectively, of the total gross supplier revenues of the alcoholic beverage industry. Although still dominant, beer is losing its market share in the United States to wine and spirits. We’ll explore this trend in a later part of our series.
Beer also rules globally
Beer is the preferred drink in many countries of the world. Data provided by Euromonitor International indicate that the per capita consumption of beer is highest in the Czech Republic with 143 liters of beer consumed per person.
In terms of total beer consumed, China ranks number one with 54 billion liters. However, the per capita consumption of beer in China comes to 38 liters due to the huge population of the country.
Apart from the Czech Republic, the other top countries in terms of per capita consumption include Germany, Austria, Estonia, and Poland. Although the United States has more breweries than in any other country in the world, it doesn’t rank among the top ten beer-consuming countries in terms of per capita consumption.
About 19.6% of the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLP) is allocated to beverage companies such as Constellation Brands (STZ), Brown Forman (BF.B), and Molson Coors Brewing (TAP). Constellation Brands and Brown Forman together constitute ~0.18% of the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV).