The total number of craft breweries across the U.S. for 2020 reached 8,764, but who are the faces behind these operations?
As part of its bi-annual audit, The Brewers Association (BA) surveyed 500 randomly selected breweries to gain insight on the gender, race, and ethnicity of their owners. Previously, the BA opened up the survey to all of its members, as well as non-members, but this year the organization decided on a random sampling to limit the potential for response bias. Of the selected breweries, 136 responded to the survey, while the remaining 364 were coded by the BA.
The findings show that, despite progress in diversity within the craft industry, 93.5 percent of U.S. brewery owners are white and 75.6 percent are male. More than 58 percent of breweries had no female owners, while 28.3 percent had a 50/50 split between male and female.
The survey also showed that Latinx owners make up just 2.2 percent of the industry, Asian ownership stands at 2 percent, and 0.4 percent of owners are Black. Additionally, 0.2 percent of owners identified as non-binary or a third gender.
“While there’s nothing that says white and male owned businesses can’t connect with that more diverse customer base, it’s going to require additional work in building diverse organisations and shoring up blind spots,” Bart Watson, chief economist for the Brewers Association, told Drinks Business.
The full results of the audit can be found on the Brewers Association’s website.
