USA: Craft beer sales continued to contract in April

Flavored malt beverages and seltzers are on the comeback, while craft beer continued to contract according to the April 2025 Beer Purchasers’ Index (BPI) from The National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA), Craft Brewing Business reported on May 1.

The BPI is the only forward-looking indicator for distributors to measure expected beer demand. The index surveys beer distributors’ purchases across different segments and compares them to previous years. A reading greater than 50 indicates the segment is expanding, while a reading below 50 indicates the segment is contracting.

The April Beer Purchasers’ Index recorded a year-over-year decrease to 38 while the at-risk inventory measure rose to 54. The combination of these index readings continues to place the industry in contractionary territory.

The FMB/seltzer reading for April 2025 at 43 is three-points higher than the April 2024 reading at 40. The FMB segment is the only segment to post a higher reading in April 2025 compared to April 2024. This is 14th consecutive month of YoY improvement — the segment’s first such streak since 2019/2020.

The Imports segment returned to expansionary territory following its first month in contraction since 2020, with an April 2025 reading of 51. Still: that is 22 points below last April’s reading of 73.

The craft index at 20 for April 2025 continues to signal contraction in this segment and is 16-points lower than the April 2024 reading at 36.

The premium lights index fell to 38 for April 2025, 25-points lower than the April 2024 reading at 63.

The premium regular index fell to 37 for April 2025, 22-points lower than the April 2024 reading at 59.

The below premium segment for April 2025 at 46 is seven-points lower than the April 2024 reading of 53.

Finally, the cider segment posted an April 2025 reading at 29 compared to 39 for April 2024.

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