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U.S. Beer Industry
Beer Sales
After rising more or less steadily since the repeal of prohibition, U.S. beer sales have been relatively stagnant since the mid-1980s. In 1997, total U.S. beer sales were 189.4 million 31 gallon barrels, slightly up from the previous year’s level of 188.0 million barrels, but down from the 1990 record level of 193.1 million barrels, as shown in Figure 1.1. Sales of domestic beer were about 175.6 million barrels in 1997, slightly up from the previous year, but down from the 1990 record level of 184.4 million barrels. Unlike sales of domestic beer, sales of imported beer have been robust in recent years, after rebounding from a slump in sales from 1988 through 1991. Sales of imported beer increased a very respectable 14.4%, or by 1.7 million barrels, to a record level of 13.8 million barrels in 1997. In 1970, sales of imported beer were only 900,000 barrels, or only 0.7% of total U.S. beers sales, whereas in 1997 they were 7.3% of total beer sales.
Regional Beer Sales
Beer sales vary from region to region in the United States. The region with the biggest sales in 1997 was the West, at about 59 million barrels, followed by the Southeast at 51 million barrels. The Midwest region had beer sales of about 46 million barrels, and in the Northeast, sales were 33 million barrels.
Big Three Beer Sales
Sales for the country’s three biggest brewers – Anheuser-Busch, Inc., Miller Brewing Co., and Coors Brewing Co. – were about 155 million barrels or about 82% of total beer sales in 1997. Anheuser-Busch outperformed the industry with beer sales at about 91 million barrels, followed by Miller at an estimated 44 million barrels and Coors at approximately 20 million barrels. Anheuser-Busch’s reported net sales were over $8 billion in 1997, followed by Miller and Coors with sales estimated at $3.5 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively.
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