Breweries probably don’t need yet another reminder that they’ll have to be creative and resourceful to attract new customers or that those customers are harder than ever to capture.
Growing competition from other categories is the reality, and so is a consumer base that’s generally drinking less and going out less often. But there’s another fact about today’s consumer that breweries could use to their advantage: When they do imbibe—especially the newer generation of legal drinkers—they are driven by flavor more than category.
Some craft-brewing veterans may see this as a negative, assuming that it’s pushing consumers toward hard seltzers, teas, and RTDs. Yet there are opportunities to get those consumers to buy your beer—if you can communicate to them what it actually tastes like.