Thinking of Starting a Business? Try Your Hand At Artisanal Alcohol or Boutique Beer
Drinkers are clamoring for the cache of small-scale brews and cocktails.
cizauskas/Flickr
Bottoms up! Craft brewers and small-scale producers are thriving as image-conscious locavores seek out quality cocktails and brews. The tiniest among them, microbrewers and microdistillers, are thriving. That's because the so-called "premiumization" of the market hugely benefits these businesses, which generate small quantities of product--and can command high market prices.
Interested? You would sell small quantities to distributors and retailers, which would charge a premium for your artsy quaff.
How much?
Microbrewery revenue grew 29 percent in 2012, microdistillery revenue 32 percent, says Anything Research.
That doesn't mean it's easy
In a beer and liquor market dominated by juggernauts, fledgling brewers must invest big bucks to stand out. And, watch out for those pesky regulations, which may squeeze interstate sales.
it's getting crowded
Boston Beer Company and Sierra Nevada reign among craft breweries. Dogfish Head and Sixpoint are notable upstarts.
Start small
You'd probably need to bootstrap to purchase a facility and equipment, then hope to catch the attention of established brands. Think Skinnygirl Cocktails, which sold to Beam Global in 2011.
Ideal prior job?
Beer or liquor hobbyist with a penchant for marketing
Buzzwords
Craft brewery: independent with annual production of fewer than six million barrels.
Microbrewery (and microdistilleries): even smaller operations, usually run out of a home or very small facility
