USA: American consumers think beer quality Is better than ever

American customers are more satisfied than ever with the quality of beer produced by Anheuser Busch, Miller, and Coors, according to the Quarterly Quality Report released on November 18 by the American Society for Quality (ASQ). The Quarterly Quality Report examines one of the most critical components of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI): perceived quality of the goods measured in the ACSI's third quarter report, released earlier this week.

The industries measured as part of this quarter's Quality Report on the manufactured nondurable goods sector are food and beverages, apparel, cigarettes, breweries, athletic shoes, personal care products, pet food, and cleaning products. The ACSI reports on different sectors each quarter, and consumers' perception of quality of manufactured nondurable goods is among the highest of all the sectors measured by the ACSI.

The ACSI is produced by the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business in partnership with the American Society for Quality and CFI Group.

The perceived quality index--the focus of the Quarterly Quality Report and a component of the ACSI--stands strong at 87.4. Non-durables remain a bright spot compared to the overall national quality index, sitting a full nine index points above the overall national quality index of 78.5 for the economy as a whole. There was not a single company in the entire manufacturing non-durables sector that experienced a significant decline in its perceived quality score.

"The strong showing that we consistently see in consumer non-durable goods suggests that market leaders in this sector have a solid understanding that quality--as defined by the customer--is a key ingredient of successful corporate strategy," said Jack West, former president of the American Society for Quality and author of the Quarterly Quality Report.

ASQ's Quarterly Quality Report is an analysis of customers' perceptions of the quality and reliability of products and services. It is based on data generated by the nation's leading measure of customer satisfaction, the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).

The American Customer Satisfaction Index is a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of products and services available to household consumers in the United States. The index is produced by the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business in partnership with the American Society for Quality and CFI Group, and is supported in part by ForeSee Results, corporate sponsor for the e-commerce and e-business measurements.

E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .