Craft Beer as a Means of Economic Development: An Economic Impact Analysis of the Michigan Value Chain

Abstract

While many studies have suggested the beer value chain might be a vehicle for economic growth, few have estimated the economic impacts of craft beer to a geographic region. As such, this study uses modified input/output analysis to identify the economic contributions of instate beer production to the Michigan economy. We find that the beer value chain generated nearly $500 million in Gross State Product in 2016, contributing nearly $1 billion as well as 9738 jobs in total aggregate economic contributions. The results suggest that state governments might generate economic growth by creating a business climate that is conducive to the growth of the instate beer value chain.

Consumer willingness to pay for sustainability attributes in beer: A choice experiment using eco‐labels

“…According to Price (2019), there are now over 170 styles of beer coming from over 8,000 breweries, creating endless options for the consumer. Meanwhile, commercial beer tends to have brand loyalty from its consumers (Allison & Uhl, 1964; Malone & Lusk, 2018a; Miller et al, 2019; Toro‐González et al, 2014), explaining the statistic that only 41% of commercial‐only buyers enjoy buying new beers. Comparing commercial‐only beer buyers with respondents that buy both commercial and craft beer yields nearly identical findings.…”

“…Indeed, consumers are likely to be familiar with beer packaging and are likely to have strong preferences for bottles or cans (Watson, 2015, 2017, 2018). We include local brewing not as an environmental sustainability attribute—as local brewing need not imply sustainable production due to the existing efficiency differences in brewing equipment for small, local brewers, and larger, regional brewers (Brewers Association, 2017d; Sturm, Butcher, Wang, Huang, & Roskilly, 2012)—but rather because the craft beer movement has been linked to consumer preference for local products (Dobis, Reid, Schmidt, & Goetz, 2019; Garavaglia & Swinnen, 2017; Hart, 2018; Miller, Sirrine, McFarland, Howard, & Malone, 2019).…”

Hopping on the localness craze: What brewers want from state‐grown hops

“…Although many studies have evaluated consumer preferences for localness, the literature on value chain preferences for localness is thin. This gap is especially important as localized value chains have the potential to increase consumer satisfaction (Van Loo, Caputo, Nayga, & Verbeke, 2014), improve environmental awareness (Hasselbach & Roosen, 2015), and, perhaps most importantly, boost local economies (Miller, Sirrine, McFarland, Howard, & Malone, 2019). Seeing the potential for economic growth, state and local governments are increasingly considering legislation to promote investment in local food systems (Brown, Goetz, Ahearn, & Liang, 2014), creating jobs, supporting agriculture, and attracting tourists.…”

Precision of a Small Brew House by Determining the Repeatability of Different Brews to Guarantee the Product Stability of the Beer

“…Craft brewers follow this trend and create new recipes with special raw materials. More than 150 types of beer are already accepted [1,2]. It is essential for brewers to be able to produce their beer varieties repeatedly in the same quality.…”