After a decade of blistering growth, the U.S. domestic beer market declined in 2023. The reasons given include some consumers opting for a healthier, alcohol-free lifestyle, and others switching to drinking higher alcohol spirits. This increases the importance of exports but both beer and hops exports also declined in 2023. This is important since 70 percent of U.S. hops production is exported. The U.S. produces 45 percent of the world’s hops.  U.S. acreage dedicated to hops production expanded rapidly to respond to the growth in craft beer production, and hoppy beers like India pale ale. Meanwhile, top export markets like Germany are suffering from economic malaise. Germany is also a major supplier but U.S. hops imports from th...

TAGS – Softs, North America