Sam Adams

Given the ever-changing landscape of the craft beer revolution and how beer companies are adapting to customer preferences, each one of these companies needs to develop competitive strategies that are adaptive to the marketplace. However, in order for beer companies to adapt the marketplace, they must first understand what is driving the market. The single most important aspect to identify is what consumers are looking for. Consumers are driving the market through their preferences for a more interesting product that mass market and process oriented beer simply does not provide. Consumers are now craving a product that simply tastes better, has more variety, and in general has more character than the “light” beer. From a taste perspective, craft beer uses higher quality ingredients with less adjuncts. They use the best quality malted barley, hops, and water to product a more luxurious product. They do not contain corn, rice, or any other adjunct to bulk up the fermentable sugars. The saying “Quality in, Quality Out” doesn’t have a better representation. In addition to the quality, variety has a huge impact. With new micro-breweries popping up every year in the United States, each brewery defines its individual style while at the same time experimenting with new ingredients to push the boundary for what consumers perceive as “normal” beer. These ingredients can range from chili peppers to flower buds to cocoa nibs.

Millennials are the individuals who are impacted most from quality and variety and thus the consumers are driving the demand and the landscape for the market. “Beer drinkers aged 36 to 47 are slightly less likely than consumers aged 21 to 35 to show a preference for the taste of craft beer.” Craft beer represents the cool and trendy item to get involved with. This philosophy transfers and trickles to other generations and age groups for which Jim Koch wanted to capitalize on. Jim Koch said on his interview with Business Insider “I am trying to make...