THE WORLD OF ONLINE CRAFT BEER IN 2025
Dear enthusiasts,
We are happy to share with you a look at the online craft beer landscape in our beautiful country for 2025! The market is consolidating, but the passion is more alive than ever, moving towards value niches and always new and interesting formats.
1. Our Meeting Places (Channels and Market Shares)
In Europe, online sales represent about 10% of the total, a number that is steadily growing. In Italy, although the good old physical channel (HoReCa) remains the beating heart with 70%, e-commerce and direct sales are the fastest growing segments: a global growth of+11.87%. A true digital ferment!
And what do we ship the most? The beloved cans! Online shipments dominate for their logistical convenience (lightness and excellent preservation), covering over 58% of the packaging market in 2025.
2. Who We Are and What We Look For (Buying Behavior)
- Frequency: Our community is loyal! About 29% of consumers purchase craft beer at least monthly.
- Choice drivers: Taste is, of course, the undisputed king of choice, followed by the fermentation process and color. But there is an exciting new trend for 2025: a strong and beautiful focus on the local origin of raw materials. We choose with heart and territory!
- Demographics: The beer world is still predominantly male (67-72% of buyers), but the female segment is the fastest growing. The more, the merrier!
3. The Releases That Warm the Heart (Online-First Product Trends)
- Low-Alcohol: The true, great protagonist of 2025 is the low-alcohol segment. Beyond 16% of the new beers launched have an alcohol content below 4%, with an increase of 27% compared to the previous year. To toast with lightness and taste!
- Collaborations: Collaborative beers (born from the union of two or more breweries) represent an incredible 19.51% of new releases. They are a tangible sign of our united community and a powerful tool to attract collectors and enthusiasts online.
- Styles: Craft Lagers are gaining ground on Ales, thanks to the search for drinkability, freshness, and simplicity.
4. A Toast to Italian Numbers (Market Statistics Italy)
- Total Value: The overall beer market in Italy is estimated at a substantial $13.96 billion in 2025.
- Number of Producers: Proudly, the number of craft breweries and beer firms in Italy has surpassed 1.085, confirming our country as the fourth in Europe by number of breweries. A heritage of creativity and dedication!
WHAT ARE THE AVERAGE PURCHASE PRICES FOR CRAFT BEERS ONLINE?
The average prices for purchasing craft beers online in 2025 reflect a slight increase due to raw material costs, but with greater value on canned formats and bundle packages.
Here is the detail of average prices (VAT included, shipping costs excluded):
1. Prices by Format
- Can (33cl / 44cl): This is the most common format online. The average price ranges between €3.80 and €6.50 depending on the style. 44cl cans of complex styles (such as Double IPA or Imperial Stout) can exceed €8.00.
- Bottle (33cl): It remains at an average of €3,50 - €5,00.
- Large bottle (75cl): Often used for aging or "sharing" styles, the price starts at about €12,00 up to exceeding €25,00 for limited or barrel-aged editions.
2. Price Ranges by Category
Type |
Price per Liter (Average) |
Notes |
Standard Craft |
€4,00 – €12,00 |
Lager, Pils, Session IPA |
Premium / Limited |
€15,00 – €40,00 |
IGA, Sour, Barrel-aged, Christmas Editions |
Industrial (for comparison) |
€1,20 – €2,50 |
GDO Prices |
4. Factors influencing the price in 2025
The final cost is strongly influenced by alcohol content (ABV) and style: highly hopped beers (IPA) or those with special ingredients have significantly higher prices compared to craft Lager. Additionally, the choice of cans over glass is becoming a standard to reduce logistics and transportation costs.
In 2025, online purchase is no longer just a "convenient" alternative but has become the main driver of discovery for the craft beer consumer for three fundamental reasons:
1. Access to the "Long Tail" and Rarity
Unlike the GDO (Large Organized Distribution), where shelf space is limited to the biggest brands, e-commerce allows access to local microbreweries and limited editionsMaltese is the only one that has so far managed to enter the GDO with the best Craft Beer brands in a structured way.
- Exclusivity: Many of the best Italian craft beers of 2025 are produced in such small batches that they are sold almost exclusively online or directly at the brewery.
2. Disintermediation and Freshness
For styles like IPA, freshness is everything. Online purchase enables the model Direct-to-Consumer (DTC):
- The beer comes out of the tank, is canned, and shipped directly to the home, reducing storage times in distributor warehouses.
- In 2025, consumers look for the "packaging date," and online is the only channel that guarantees this transparency.
3. Education and Infocommerce
The modern consumer does not buy "a blonde," but an experience. Specialized sites like maltese.beer offer:
- Complete technical sheets: IBU, EBC, hop type, and food pairings.
- Social Proof: Reviews from other users
- According to data from AssoBirra 2025, digital information is the first step that leads to purchase, making the web the sector's universal "catalog."
