Page 53 - Beverage Master February March 2020

International News

Since the first survey in 2013, Beer Me BC has
found the ratio of younger beer drinkers has been
shrinking, while the number of respondents over
the age of 43 has increased. It indicates that craft
beer has staying power, as beer fans continue to
choose craft as they get older. Yet it also suggests
that fewer Millennials are becoming craft beer
fans than Gen-Xers. Beer Me BC notes that trends
researchers have found younger adults are drinking
less, and are more likely to choose alternative bev-
erages such as ciders and coolers.

Over the years, the Beer Me BC survey has found
the number of beer-drinkers who prefer to buy
in bottles and growlers has dropped drastically.
In 2013, bottles, bombers and growlers were pre-
ferred by the vast majority of consumers, with
only 10% preferring cans. Tall cans (greater than
355 mL) weren’t even on the radar back then. Yet
today, almost half of respond-ents said they prefer
tall cans, and nearly two-thirds said they prefer alu-
minium cans to glass bottles.
New Seal Identifies “Real” Craft Beer

Big Beer is increasingly gobbling up small brewer-
ies and marketing faux-craft brands, making it hard-
er for consumers to know when the “craft” beer icy and growth investment, and promote Canadian
they’re buying is truly an authentic small-batch craft beer nationally and internationally.
brew.

In June 2019, the CCBA tallied the craft breweries
A new initiative by the recently formed Canadian and brewpubs operating in each Canadian prov-
Craft Brewers Association aims to help craft beer ince and territory. There are now over 1,000 craft
fans identify the real stuff through a new certifica- breweries or brewpubs operating in Canada, or 27
tion mark to be added to “real” craft beer labels. breweries per million people (the U.S. has 22 per
million). Ontario has the most breweries in oper-
The Independent Craft Seal of Authenticity, a ation (269), while Quebec has the most brewpubs
small icon featuring a stylized hop bud, is intend- (68) and also has the most breweries in planning
ed to differentiate beer brands that are produced (80) out of all the provinces.
and sold by authentic Canadian craft brewers from
copycat brands spawned by large beer conglomer- All members of Canadian provincial craft brew-
ates. ing associations are automatically members of the
CCBA. While the definition of a “craft” producer
To use the seal, breweries must be members of varies slightly from province to province, all mem-
the CCBA and apply for an annual license. They bers are licensed to produce beer in Canada, pro-
must also register the use of the seal, and comply duce no more than 400,000 hectoli-tres of beer
with strict usage guidelines. (the majority produce less than 5,000 hectolitres),
and are independently owned (no controlling
The CCBA formed last spring to create a national shareholder is a large beverage alcohol company).
umbrella organization uniting provincial craft brew-
ers associations, making it easier to educate and
lobby the federal government on issues like federal
taxation, inter-provincial trade, import/export pol-

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