Deliver on draft: Five On-Premise opportunities

The exclusive 2025 Draft Beer Report shows draft attracted 52.3% of beer sales by volume in the 12 months to early 2025—a notable year-on-year increase of 0.9 percentage points. It now earns nearly 20 cents in every dollar spent on beverage alcohol out-of-home in the US.

However, with spending under pressure and competition fierce, businesses will need to stay laser-focused on the latest trends and pinpoint growth hotspots.

Here are five of the opportunities to win more spending over the rest of 2025 and beyond:

1 Younger drinkers

Draft beer is often seen as the preserve of older men, but there are signs this is changing. The number of 21 to 34 year-olds choosing a draft serve has increased by 6 percentage points year-on-year, while the 35-to-54 cohort rose by 10 percentage points. This suggests venues are successfully broadening their draft demographics and building pipelines of drinkers for the future. However, with younger consumers still heavily over-indexing for packaged beers, there is more work to be done to attract them to draft.

2 Imported brands

Analysis for the report highlights rising interest in imported brands. Sales of these have soared by 13.7% in the last 12 months, as consumers looking for new beers from beyond the US turn to draft for the best experiences. Some of the growth has come at the expense of craft, where sales dropped 2.4%—though this remains the biggest segment in draft beer. Other growth categories have included domestic super premium (up 7.1%), below premium (up 6.4%) and cider (up 1.6%).

3 Value

Many drinkers choose draft over packaged beer because they prefer the taste, freshness and glass serve. But with spending still tight, perceptions of value continue to be important, and more than one in five (22%) draft consumers choose it because it’s cheaper. Stressing value for money is crucial, but it’s important to remember that this doesn’t have to mean cheap—just worth whatever price is being paid.

4 In-venue draft promotion

A lot of future growth in draft beer will be driven by advertising. Well over a quarter (28%) of draft beer consumers say they are likely to purchase a brand after seeing it advertised in a venue, and there are plenty of touchpoints at which to influence them. The report reveals that coasters, glasses and neon signs are the three most effective forms of connection, with tap handles, posters and menu boards among the other useful tools for discovery.

5 Draft cocktail consumers

BevAl draft means more than just beer, and cocktails might be the next big opportunity. While sales are currently modest, research indicates that interest is rising, as around half (49%) of On-Premise visitors have now had a draft cocktail or would try one. This number jumps to 61% among 21 to 34 year-olds, who are more likely than average to be attracted by innovations in cocktails. As well as growth potential, draft cocktails have clear operational advantages, like speed of serve and consistency of quality.

The On Premise Draft Opportunity from Draftline Technologies^TM and CGA by NIQ has more analysis of draft beer in the US On-Premise, including trends in sales, distribution, channels, segments, styles and countries of origin. It also features a case study of the market in California, where sales of draft beer outperform other states, plus tips for growing sales further. The full report is available to download for free now.

CGA by NIQ’s On-Premise Measurement and consumer research solutions provide many more insights into consumers’ engagement and purchasing habits and trends across the US On-Premise, with expert analysis of categories, occasions and much more.