Because the word ‘craft’ is neither legally defined nor protected, large organisations are free to exploit the movement by concealing their mainstream beers or outright purchasing smaller breweries. As mainstream beer brands own 90% of the market along with more money and resources, there is little that can be done to stop this. The result is an increasingly saturated market where no one really understands what ‘craft’ is.

When speaking with industry experts it’s clear that defining the industry itself seems to be an impossible task. In this section, we cut through the noise of the mainstream and explore how the brewer’s and consumers’ views of what makes a ‘craft beer’ differ. Then we will synthesize the findings to make a concise explanation of what exactly craft beer is. We will end by giving you actionable recommendations on how to make your brand more appealing to the consumer.

Over 40% of consumers rank attributes like independence, creative flavours and everything made in their brewery, as the most important attributes of a truly craft brand.

This latter attribute might pose an issue for many craft brewers as many report contract brewing “at least 40% of our beer”. If this disparity was known to consumers they may be less inclined to view your brand as craft. However, it’s not all doom and gloom if your brand doesn’t meet all of the top attributes.

Craft is “independence and internal brewing”