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Article: Craft beer sales growth slows As fewer dine out, specialty brewers suffer
- Article from:
- The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, WI)
- Article date:
- February 12, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2009 The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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The old saw about beer sales being recession-proof?
Try telling that to Jake Leinenkugel.
"We've noticed the slowdown," said Leinenkugel, president of
Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co., the nation's fifth-largest craft
brewer. "It's concerning."
Sales of "craft beer," loosely defined as brews that have higher
quality and a more distinctive taste than their mass-produced
counterparts, totaled 9.45 million barrels in 2008, a 5% increase
over the previous year. That's according to newly released numbers
from trade publication Beer Marketer's Insights.
The craft segment last year continued its trend of performing
much better than the overall U.S. beer industry, which posted a 2008
sales increase of ...