The craft beer market - France

Craft beer is defined not just by the finished product, but by the entire production chain, from the brewery's legal status to the nature of the processes employed. Three criteria are generally applied: independence (no capital link with an industrial group), size (annual production under 200,000 hectolitres) and production method (use of own equipment, without pasteurization or industrial filtration). This definition effectively excludes brands that claim to be craft but are part of major groups. In this respect, craft beer is distinguished not only by its flavors, but also by its production philosophy, based on creativity, proximity and a refusal to standardize. In France, the sector has enjoyed exceptional growth over the past fifteen years. The country has gone from 200 breweries in 2009 to over 2,500 in 2024, according to figures from Brasseurs de France. This dense network makes France the leading European nation in terms of the number of craft breweries, ahead of the UK and Germany. The majority are micro-structures (less than 1,000 hl/year), often located in rural or suburban areas, and play a key role in local economic revitalization, particularly through agrotourism. Over 90% of them opentheir doors to the public and offer tastings or events, reinforcing their local roots. The dynamic is not limited to supply: demand is also changing profoundly. French consumers are increasingly turning to local, authentic and ethical products. By 2024, 64% of French consumers were drinking locally-produced beers, and almost 40% were buying beers from craft microbreweries. This progression is based on a dual expectation: to rediscover taste (notably through bitterness, top fermentation or original ingredients), and to give meaning to consumption (transparency, traceability, short circuits). This quest for proximity is reflected in projects such as La 21, a 100% Côte-d'Or beer launched by Brasserie de France, where every ingredient (hops, blackcurrants, honey, bottle) is sourced within a radius of a few kilometers. Yet the picture is not uniform. While the craze is real, the sector is gradually becoming more structured, but also more fragile. On the one hand, artisanal players such as Goudale and 3 Monts are producing hundreds of thousands of hectolitres a year, with sales networks covering the entire country. On the other, major brewery groups (Kronenbourg, Heineken, Duvel Moortgat...) are investing in or buying up local brands (Gallia, Mont Blanc, Anosteké), blurring the boundary between authentic craft and "faux artisan". This growing hybridization raises questions about the very identity of craft beer, and poses a challenge for consumers in terms of legibility.

added to this industrialization is growing regulatory pressure. The PLFSS 2025 (Projet de Loi de Financement de la Sécurité Sociale - Social Security Financing Bill) provides for a tax increase on certain craft beers, particularly flavored or highly alcoholic beers. This shock, estimated by Brasseurs de France tocost overa billion euros in additional charges, could put manymicrobreweries at risk.many microbreweries, already weakened by inflation on raw materials (glass, hops, cardboard, energy). The founder of Bière Yourself, Maxime Collet, speaks of a forced price increase of 30 to 40%, hardly sustainable in a highly competitive market. The craft beer industry in France is at a strategic turning point. Buoyed by a cultural craze, it is at the same time faced with a structural tension: how to maintain a model based on independence, transparency and local production, in an environment where the logics of volume, taxation and concentration are intensifying? It is against this shifting backdrop that the present study is set, proposing to examine three key dimensions: