Craft beer lovers will likely see prices increase soon

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Breweries hate to do it, but the cost of canning craft beer is coming with a big change from one of the biggest suppliers.

“We’ve definitely dealt with a lot of price increases across the board within the industry for the last couple of years, it has presented a lot of challenges,” said Brian Quinn, Director of Brewery Operations at Town Brewing Company.

One of the world’s largest suppliers of aluminum cans is sending shockwaves throughout the craft beer world. Come January 1, Ball Corporation is raising the minimum number of cans non-contract customers must order.

For local breweries like “Town Brewing Company,” their goal is not to pass growing costs for any resources on to customers.

Quinn said, “that’s always a tough decision to make because one, we don’t want to price out our loyal customers,”

Breweries fear that customers would also change over to a cheaper product or beer during inflation. but one customer we talked to believes people should just start preparing for the increase.

Hendrick Du Toit, a brewery customer said, “I think it’ll be smart for everyone to maybe start padding their wallets a little bit and thinking ahead to the future because we really don’t know when it’s going to end.”

Town Brewing says the increased cost is because of environmental issues, global supply chain issues, and a reckoning for better salaries in the craft beer industry.

“It’s only going to become increasingly challenging over the next year or so, I’m predicting a lot more price increases to come, that’s really been the only consistent thing the last couple of years is that we had to go by dealing with these price increases,” said Quinn.

Town Brewing Company says the one item that hasn’t changed much, is the cost of locally sourced malt, which is now competitive across the board. The brewery adds it’ll likely have to raise prices next year.

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