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Craft Beverage - Grow Your Brand and Your Community

Craft beverage is uniquely positioned to bring producers and communities together.

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Updated:

February 21, 2023

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In Pennsylvania, craft beverage producers represent one of the largest growing segments in the value-added food and beverage industry in recent years. Their market includes Millennials, the first generation to reshape the craft beverage movement, and Generation Z, the newest wave of adults reaching legal drinking age. These generations combined, constitute the largest working generation or about 75 million in the United States population and they will largely determine where and how our economy will grow.

Some may remember when craft beer was a new product, when local, small breweries began opening in our Pennsylvania towns and their product became available at local bottle shops. At that time and mirrored today, customers were interested to try the new local beer, intrigued that it was made so close to home and curious about the story behind the product. Today, Millennials and Generation Z have expanded upon this love of local to a thirst for authenticity in their food and beverage products. They take food vacations, travel specifically to visit a wine or beer region and they're making it a family affair, traveling with their children.

Consumers age 21 to 40 are shaping the craft beverage industry in a number of ways. Primarily it's a search for more than what was offered by product companies when the Millennial generation were children. They want to know more about their beverage, hear an engaging story and participate in a family friendly experience. The craft beverage industry, with its roots in terroir in many segments is poised to market itself based on a taste of place.

Generation Z, the newest growing segment of alcohol consumers is slowly increasing its expendable income as they graduate college and begin to take on more purchasing power in our economy. This generation, looking to strengthen and refine the purchasing values of the Millennial generation, is searching for brands that reflect their own values of social fairness, environmentalism and holistic wellness.

To cash in on where the largest segment of consumers is placing their dollars, craft beverage producers need to focus on offering both a clean product and a unique experience in which to immerse the visitor. Minimalist labeling design, one of the newest trend to attract Generation Z consumers is a start; your product will stand out on the shelf at the bottle shop or in the endless row of tap handles, however consumers will need to know a bit more. A focus on telling your story, why you started your business, why you have an interest in producing your craft beverage, what ingredients you use and how you source them will work to color in the details of your brand to consumers creating a picture that is unique to you, your community and your product. As you build your brand based on your story, be sure to create an experience that is reflective of your businesses background. Is your brewery or tasting room more than farm to table filled with industrial barn pendant lights and rough-hewn beams? Consumers searching out a craft beverage experience have likely sipped wine at a table from a repurposed barrel or joined friends at a German beer hall style long table for a pint. Be purposeful in selecting what consumers will experience in your surroundings and how it reflects your business values and tells your unique story.

The ability to attract a regional market for craft beverage businesses enables this industry to not only build their individual brands but communities as well. Food and beverage tourism is one of the largest growing segment in the tourism industry. By leveraging consumer desires to travel for a novel food or beverage experience, craft beverage businesses are able to create a draw to an otherwise unnoticed rural region or developing downtown. Many times, a craft beverage producer has the ability to become the attraction that draws consumers to a town enabling them to frequent other nearby restaurants and shops. As a craft beverage producer, it makes sense to collaborate with other local food and beverage producers who align with your brand's values to collectively market your region, creating a weekend destination and injecting more regional dollars into your local economy.

Getting started on building an experience begins with your own brand. Be focused and concise in your value-based decisions to create a clear message to your customer. Follow this up by facilitating a meeting with your other local craft beverage producers in all beverage segments, expand by inviting local food producers, artisans and others who tell the story of your region or town through their products. Build an understanding among participants on collective marketing and the quality level of the customer experience that will be provided at each business. Then stick to it, provide consistency between what is marketed to consumers and what they find when they step through your door and highlight the positive, preferably through social media platforms like Instagram, as it builds your brand and your community.