Craft beer explosion evidence of market maturing

Chris Hince - Hospitality New Zealand regional manager for Manawatu, Wanganui, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay and Gisborne

Hospitality New Zealand regional manager Hawke's Bay Chris Hince is a self-confessed "hop head" and says the craft beer market has exploded around the country over the last five to 10 years.

"It started in Wellington, and Hawke's Bay were early adopters - it's quite remarkable and is a sign of more mature drinking patterns, people choosing quantity over quality."

As well as offering a choice for consumers, he said it also expanded options for bar operators who could choose to only stock craft beers, main line suppliers or a combination of both.

"It's a maturation of the industry - all three of the major breweries are introducing craft offerings.

"Not everybody has to move in this space though - some people like the beer they grew up with and there's nothing wrong with that.

"It's not a case of us and them, the market is bigger now so let's all play."

As well as the market maturing, he said people's drinking habits were getting more sophisticated, which the craft beer market was capitalising on.

"It's providing competition for the wine industry - it's not all macho and manly."

While the wine industry had been matching wine with food for decades, this was another avenue the craft beer industry was also exploring, again adding to the sophistication of the market.

"There's different strands of hops and people are really getting into analysing the flavours and this is great for the hospitality industry to offer more scope and interest.

"There are some really massive, hoppy bitter beers but also very lightweight interesting ones you can edge your way into as a start."

While the amount of beer being drunk had not necessarily grown, this broadening of options was a real positive, he said.

Last year's ANZ New Zealand craft beer industry insight estimated that in retail about $1 of every $5 spent on beer in New Zealand went towards a beer marketed as craft.

Small breweries' share of total beer production for local consumption boomed from 2.6 per cent in 2011 to 6.8 per cent in 2016.