For beer marketers, February 2021 was a good month. The National Beer Wholesalers Association’s Beer Purchasers Index showed solid gains, rising to 70 from 64 a month earlier.
But the devil is in the details, and the craft index posted another below 50 reading of 45 for February 2021, compared to 51 in February 2020. This is the third monthly reading below 50 as craft continues to struggle to gain momentum with continued reduced on-premises activity.
The index for imports continues into expansion territory for a reading of 61 in February 2021, well above the 52 reading from February 2020.
The index for premium lights continues to post significantly higher readings with February 2021 at 58, relative to 38 in February 2020.
Regular domestic beer index also saw another significant jump, hitting an index of 49 in February 2021 relative to 27 in February 2020.
Below premium beers had an unexpected jump to 51, breaking the downward trend in the index over the past several months.
The FMB/seltzer category continued to outperform all other segments in February 2021 with a reading of 84, compared to 95 from February 2020. Note that this is the second time the FMB/Seltzer index has dropped below 90 since May 2020.
Finally, the cider segment remains below 50 with a reading of 39 in February 2021 from 34 in February 2020.