BRD BENCHMARKING AND BEST PRACTICES SURVEY RESULTS
Transcript of BRD BENCHMARKING AND BEST PRACTICES SURVEY RESULTS
12013-2014 Brewers’ resource Directory • BrewersAssociAtion.org
BREWERS’ RESOURCE DIRECTORYBRD2013-2014
BENCHMARKING AND BESTPRACTICES
SURVEY RESULTS• BREWERS ASSOCIATION MEMBERS-ONLY EXCLUSIVE CONTENT • BREWERS ASSOCIATION MEMBERS-ONLY EXCLUSIVE CONTENT • BREWERS ASSOCIATION MEMBERS-ONLY EXCLUSIVE CONTENT • BREWERS ASSOCIATION MEMBERS-ONLY EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
BREWERSASSOCIATION.ORG 107
Benchmarking and Best Practices Survey Results
BENCHMARKING AND BESTPRACTICES SURVEY RESULTS
The Brewers Association (BA) conducted a comprehensive survey of America’s craft brewers to establish and share industry benchmarks and best
practices. This survey was developed in response to BA member requests for hard data that they could use to measure their businesses and in turn make
them more efficient and successful.
2012 survey questions were revised slightly from the 2010 edition; importantly, the 2012 survey now includes the BA salary survey as well. Results were
compiled and aggregated by BA staff. The results provide a valuable set of tools specific to America’s small and independent craft brewers.
This section contains the highlights of the 2012 survey and newly a sampling of the BA salary survey results. Remaining data and more detailed in-depth
salary information will be available in the Members-Only section of BrewersAssociation.org.
Thank you to all who participated and may you find value in these results to help you grow with the industry. This is, indeed, an exciting time to be part of
the craft beer community!
Sincerely,
Paul Gatza
Brewers Association
Kristi Switzer
Brewers Publications
Chris Swersey
Technical Brewing Projects Coordinator
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Benchmarking and Best Practices Survey Results
108 2013-2014 BREWERS’ RESOURCE DIRECTORY
Key
Anonymity The Brewers Association places great value on the anonymity of survey respondents. Many survey questions were of
a highly sensitive nature. Not all respondents chose to answer all questions. The answers to questions with very low
participation rates are shown with less detail (for example, not broken down by region, or not organized by company
size), or may be shown on a per barrel basis (based on 2011 reported production) in order to protect the identity of
the companies that answered these questions. The answer u/r (“unreported”), indicates an answer that is not provided
in order to protect the anonymity of survey respondents.
Bonus For purposes of this survey, “Bonus” includes all non-wage compensation such as bonus, profit sharing, commissions,
tips, etc.
Brewery Production For purposes of this survey, these are Brewmaster/Head Brewers, Shift Brewers, Cellarmen, QA/QC/Sensory, Lab and
Employees R&D employees.
Brewpub The Brewers Association defines a brewpub as follows: A restaurant-brewery that sells 25% or more of its company-
owned production onsite. The beer is brewed primarily for sale in the restaurant and bar. The beer is often dispensed
directly from the brewery’s storage tanks. Where allowed by law, brewpubs often sell beer “to go” and/or distribute to
off site accounts.
Brewpub Sizes Brewpubs were grouped based on their reported 2011 production figures in US Barrels. Groups were chosen in order
to even out the number of responses within each size group. Many answers to survey questions are published on a
per barrel basis, making identification of individual respondents impossible. Brewpubs with more than one location
were given the option of answering questions in aggregate form, or based on average value per store values. Unless
otherwise noted, survey answers are reported on a per store basis.
Full-Time Employee For purposes of this survey, full-time employees are those working >30 hours per week or salaried. Full-time employee
compensation reported as hourly wages was converted to a yearly figure by multiplying the reported hourly wage by
1,560 (52*30).
Max The largest value among all responses
Mean The “average” value of survey responses to a given question. The total of all responses given, divided by the number
of responses
Median The “middle” response. An equal number of larger and smaller values were given as responses
Min The smallest value among all responses
Mode The most common answer to a question
Non-Production, Sales For purposes of this survey, these are Owners/Proprietors, Professional Services (Accounting, Legal, Engineering,
and Marketing Employees other), Administrative, Sustainability, HR, PR, other, Marketing/Advertising/Sales Managers or Staff, Material
Ordering/Order Fulfillment/Warehouse/Logistics/Maintenance/All Others
Part-Time Employee For purposes of this survey, full-time employees are those working <30 hours per week or salaried. Part-time employee
compensation reported as hourly wages was converted to a yearly figure by multiplying the reported hourly wage by
780 (52*15).
Production Brewery A production brewery, contract brewing company or alternating proprietorship that is not a brewpub.
Production Brewery Sizes Production breweries were grouped based on their reported 2011 total production figures in US Barrels. Group
volume breaks were chosen in order to roughly even out the number of responses within each size group. The largest
category of production breweries (with 2011 production >50,000 US Barrels) contained the smallest number of
responses. In order to maintain the confidentiality of individual respondents, answers within this group are often
published as an entire group, with less detail than other groups. Many answers to survey questions are published on
a per barrel basis, making identification of individual respondents impossible. All production brewery respondents
entered their information in aggregate form.
Respondents The survey included US craft brewers as defined by the Brewers Association. Datasets that did not include 2011
production data were removed. 288 total datasets were included in the analysis.
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Benchmarking and Best Practices Survey Results
Midwest Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin
Mountain West Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming
Northeast Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wash-ington DC, West Virginia
Paci�c California, Hawaii
Paci�c NW Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington
South Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas
Regions For the purposes of this survey, states were assigned to generally accepted definitions of regions, with a few exceptions that allowed
for more even numbers of responses among the regions. Regions are usually tabulated alphabetically.
Midwest Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin
Mountain West Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming
Northeast Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
Vermont, Virginia, Washington DC, West Virginia
Pacific California, Hawaii
Pacific NW Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington
South Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas
Restaurant Employees For purposes of these survey, these are grouped as Chefs/Kitchen Managers (back-of-house), Wait Staff and Bar Managers
(front-of-house), Cooks, Dishwashers, other (back-of-house), Wait Staff, Bar Staff, Bussers, Host-Greeters, other (front-of-
house).
Salary/Hourly Wages For purposes of this survey, salary/hourly wages consists of base compensation paid to employees, not including bonus, profit
sharing, comissions, tips, etc.
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Quality assurance Data
1. Proportion of companies using labs and sensory Panels
Brewpub companies, 2011 Production
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1-500 bbl 501-1000 bbl >1000 bbl All Brewpub Companies
5%0%
8%8%
47%
53%58%
15%
24%
35%
15%
23% 21%
42%
12%8%
In-House Lab Outside Lab ServiceIn-House Sensory Panel Outside Sensory Service
Production Breweries, 2011 Production
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Multiple Brewing Shifts Multiple Packaging Shifts
27%
63%
82%
100%
46%
100%
17%
69%
5%10%
1-1000 bbl 1001-7500 bbl 7501-50000 bbl >50000 bbl All Production Breweries
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1-1000 bbl 1001-7500 bbl 7501-50000 bbl >50000 bbl All Production Breweries
8%
22%
7%4%
7%
77%
100%
81%
67%
76%
64%
100%
83%
64%
12%
65%
100%
84%
52%
40%
In-House Lab Outside Lab ServiceIn-House Sensory Panel Outside Sensory Service
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2. in-House lab Frequency of Operations
Brewpub companies,
2011 Production # respondents Daily 2-3 Days Per Week Weekly twice Monthly Monthly
1-500 bbl 13 0.0% 0.0% 7.7% 0.0% 0.0%
501-1000 bbl 26 3.8% 0.0% 3.8% 0.0% 3.8%
>1000 bbl 19 5.3% 15.8% 21.1% 0.0% 0.0%
All Brewpub
Companies58 3.4% 0.0% 10.3% 0.0% 1.7%
Production Breweries,
2011 Production # respondents Daily 2-3 Days Per Week Weekly twice Monthly Monthly
1-1000 bbl 20 5.0% 5.0% 20.0% 5.0% 5.0%
1001-7500 bbl 29 17.2% 13.8% 13.8% 0.0% 3.4%
7501-50,000 bbl 31 58.1% 9.7% 3.2% 3.2% 0.0%
>50,000 bbl 9 100.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
All Production
Breweries89 37.1% 0.0% 10.1% 2.2% 2.2%
3. Outside lab service Frequency of Operations
Brewpub companies,
2011 Production # respondents Weekly twice Monthly Monthly Quarterly semi-annually annuallyless
Frequently
1-500 bbl 13 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 7.7% 7.7% 0.0% 0.0%
501-1000 bbl 26 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 3.8% 3.8% 7.7% 0.0%
>1000 bbl 20 0.0% 5.0% 0.0% 0.0% 10.0% 15.0% 5.0%
All Brewpub
Companies59 0.0% 1.7% 0.0% 3.4% 6.8% 8.5% 1.7%
Production Breweries,
2011 Production # respondents Weekly twice Monthly Monthly Quarterly semi-annually annuallyless
Frequently
1-1000 bbl 17 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 11.8%
1001-7500 bbl 28 7.1% 3.6% 3.6% 7.1% 28.6% 3.6% 3.6%
7501-50,000
bbl30 10.0% 3.3% 16.7% 20.0% 13.3% 6.7% 0.0%
>50,000 bbl 9 11.1% 11.1% 55.6% 22.2% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
All Production
Breweries84 7.1% 3.6% 13.1% 11.9% 14.3% 3.6% 3.6%
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4. in-House sensory Panel Frequency of Operations
Brewpub companies,
2011 Production # respondents Daily2-3 Days Per
Week Weekly twice Monthly Monthly Quarterly
1-500 bbl 13 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
501-1000 bbl 26 0.0% 7.7% 19.2% 0.0% 11.5% 3.8%
>1000 bbl 19 15.8% 5.3% 15.8% 0.0% 5.3% 10.5%
All Brewpub
Companies58 5.2% 5.2% 13.8% 0.0% 6.9% 5.2%
Production Breweries,
2011 Production # respondents Daily2-3 Days Per
Week Weekly twice Monthly Monthly Quarterly
1-1000 bbl 17 11.8% 11.8% 11.8% 0.0% 17.6% 0.0%
1001-7500 bbl 27 3.7% 7.4% 14.8% 7.4% 14.8% 0.0%
7501-50,000
bbl31 9.7% 16.1% 32.3% 6.5% 12.9% 0.0%
>50,000 bbl 9 88.9% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 11.1% 0.0%
All Production
Breweries84 16.7% 10.7% 19.0% 4.8% 14.3% 0.0%
5. Outside sensory service Frequency of Operations
Brewpub companies,
2011 Production # respondents 2-3 Days Per Week twice Monthly Quarterly semi-annually less Frequently
1-500 bbl 13 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
501-1000 bbl 26 0.0% 3.8% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
>1000 bbl 19 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
All Brewpub
Companies58 0.0% 1.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Production Breweries,
2011 Production # respondents 2-3 Days Per Week twice Monthly Quarterly semi-annually less Frequently
1-1000 bbl 15 6.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
1001-7500 bbl 26 0.0% 0.0% 3.8% 0.0% 0.0%
7501-50,000 bbl 29 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 3.4% 3.4%
>50,000 bbl 9 0.0% 0.0% 11.1% 0.0% 11.1%
All Production
Breweries79 1.3% 0.0% 2.5% 1.3% 2.5%
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6. Proportion of company Departments with Go-noGo authority
Brewpub companies,
2011 Production Qc lab sensory Panel Brewing staff cellar staff Packaging staff Other*
1-500 bbl 8% 8% 85% 8% 0% 31%
501-1000 bbl 4% 4% 100% 8% 4% 8%
>1000 bbl 21% 11% 100% 26% 5% 11%
All Brewpub
Companies10% 7% 97% 14% 3% 14%
Production Breweries,
2011 Production Qc lab sensory Panel Brewing staff cellar staff Packaging staff Other*
1-1000 bbl 24% 19% 81% 14% 10% 14%
1001-7500 bbl 25% 29% 89% 36% 25% 25%
7501-50,000 bbl 70% 30% 77% 30% 27% 17%
>50,000 bbl 100% 100% 100% 78% 78% 11%
All Production
Breweries48% 34% 84% 33% 27% 18%
Note: “Other” included Owner(s) (16), Brewmaster (3), Management (2), Chairman, Head Brewer, Marketing, Operations Manager, Sales, Accounting, Everyone.
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7. Frequency of shelf-life lengths - Bottled Beer
Brewpub companies,
2011 Production#
respondents30
Days35
Days40
Days45
Days60
Days70
Days75
Days90
Days100 Days
110 Days
120 Days
130 Days
140 Days
150 Days
160 Days
180 Days
Over 200 Days
1-500 bbl 0 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
501-1000 bbl 6 0% 0% 0% 17% 17% 17% 0% 17% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 17% 17%
>1000 bbl 10 0% 10% 0% 0% 10% 0% 0% 20% 0% 0% 10% 0% 10% 10% 0% 10% 20%
All Brewpub
Companies16 0% 6% 0% 6% 13% 6% 0% 19% 0% 0% 6% 0% 6% 6% 0% 13% 19%
Production Breweries, 2011
Production#
respondents30
Days35
Days40
Days45
Days60
Days70
Days75
Days90
Days100 Days
110 Days
120 Days
130 Days
140 Days
150 Days
160 Days
180 Days
Over 200 Days
1-1000 bbl 13 15% 0% 0% 0% 8% 0% 0% 8% 0% 8% 15% 0% 0% 0% 0% 8% 38%
1001-7500 bbl 24 0% 0% 4% 0% 17% 0% 4% 21% 0% 0% 17% 0% 0% 0% 4% 25% 8%
7501-50,000
bbl28 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 4% 36% 4% 14% 14% 0% 0% 7% 0% 21% 0%
>50,000 bbl 8 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 13% 0% 0% 25% 13% 0% 13% 0% 25% 13%
All Production
Breweries73 3% 0% 1% 0% 7% 0% 3% 23% 1% 7% 16% 1% 0% 4% 1% 21% 11%
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8. Frequency of shelf-life lengths - canned Beer
Brewpub companies,
2011 Production
# respondents 45 Days 60 Days 75 Days 90 Days 110 Days 120 Days 130 Days 150 Days 180 Days
Over 200 Days
1-500 bbl 0 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
501-1000
bbl2 50% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 50% 0%
>1000 bbl 4 0% 0% 0% 50% 0% 50% 0% 0% 0% 0%
All Brewpub
Companies6 17% 0% 0% 33% 0% 33% 0% 0% 17% 0%
Production Breweries,
2011 Production
# respondents 45 Days 60 Days 75 Days 90 Days 110 Days 120 Days 130 Days 150 Days 180 Days
Over 200 Days
1-1000 bbl 3 0% 33% 33% 33% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
1001-7500
bbl7 0% 0% 0% 29% 0% 43% 0% 0% 14% 14%
7501-
50,000 bbl6 0% 0% 0% 17% 17% 33% 0% 0% 33% 0%
>50,000
bbl2 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 50% 50% 0% 0%
All
Production
Breweries
18 0% 6% 6% 22% 6% 28% 6% 6% 17% 6%
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9. Frequency of shelf-life lengths - Draught B
Brewpub companies, 2011 Production
180 Days10%
150 Days10%
120 Days10%
100 Days10%
90 Days20%
75 Days10%
70 Days10%
60 Days10%
# Respondents8%
Production Breweries, 2011 Production
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Multiple Brewing Shifts Multiple Packaging Shifts
27%
63%
82%
100%
46%
100%
17%
69%
5%10%
1-1000 bbl 1001-7500 bbl 7501-50000 bbl >50000 bbl All Production Breweries
Over 200 Days9%
200 Days4%
180 Days9%
140 Days4%
120 Days13%
90 Days18%
60 Days13%
45 Days4%
30 Days9%
# Respondents16%
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10. Frequency of Date coding Methods - Bottled Beer
Brewpub companies, 2011 Production
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1-500 bbl 501-1000 bbl >1000 bbl All Brewpub Companies
0%0%0%0%4%
8%
0%0%4%
8%
0%0%
12%
25%
0%0%
24%
42%
10%
0%
64%
33%
90%
100%
None Bottled On Date Best By Date Label Notch Inkjet Other*
Production Breweries, 2011 Production
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Multiple Brewing Shifts Multiple Packaging Shifts
27%
63%
82%
100%
46%
100%
17%
69%
5%10%
1-1000 bbl 1001-7500 bbl 7501-50000 bbl >50000 bbl All Production Breweries
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1-1000 bbl 1001-7500 bbl 7501-50000 bbl >50000 bbl All Production Breweries
12%
44%
6%
12%
0%
38%
67%
48%
32%
8% 6%11%
3%
12%
0%
23%
44%
35%
12%
0%
53%
33%
52%
56%62%
13%
0%3%
20%
31%
None Bottled On Date Best By Date Label Notch Inkjet Other*
Note: Lines may add to >100%, as some companies report using more than one method of date coding. “Other” included laser date coding on labels (2), laser etching on glass, batch number on box (2), batch number on labels, web searchable release number, hand stamping pressure sensitive labels.
Benchmarking and Best Practices Survey Results
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11. Frequency of Date coding Methods - Draught Beer
Brewpub companies, 2011 Production
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1-500 bbl 501-1000 bbl >1000 bbl All Brewpub Companies
0%0%0%0% 2%0%0%
10% 9%6%5%
20%
4%6%
0%
10%
58%
69%
53%50%
42%
31%
42%
60%
None Kegged On Date Best By Date Label Notch Inkjet Other*
Production Breweries, 2011 Production
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Multiple Brewing Shifts Multiple Packaging Shifts
27%
63%
82%
100%
46%
100%
17%
69%
5%10%
1-1000 bbl 1001-7500 bbl 7501-50000 bbl >50000 bbl All Production Breweries
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1-1000 bbl 1001-7500 bbl 7501-50000 bbl >50000 bbl All Production Breweries
7%
22%
3%7%5%
19%
67%
14%18%
9% 9%11%
3%
11%14%
9%
44%
10%
4%0%
75%
33%
83%86%
68%
5%0%0%
7%9%
None Kegged On Date Best By Date Label Notch Inkjet Other*
Note: Lines may add to >100%, as some companies may use more than one method of date coding. “Other” included laserjet on labels, stickers on keg caps, batch number on keg, bar code, web searchable release number, color coded zip ties that correspond to brew date.
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