What are the implications of America’s leading beer company losing its mass market share? Anheuser-Busch confirmed in December 2025 that it will shut down three brewing plants in the US. This step laid off 475 employees in California, New Hampshire, and New Jersey, as it is the biggest withdrawal of manufacturing capacity in US history.
Long emblematic of American beer market dominance, Brand Budweiser finds itself faced with declining market share, battered brand prestige, and increasingly tough competition in unexpected sectors, including the emerging market for cannabis-infused drinks. This listicle delves into what appears to be the most revealing root causes of these recent shutdowns.
1. A 37-Year Slide in Market Position
However, the decline of Budweiser started years before the recent shutdowns. In 1988, the brand dominated 25% of the U.S. beer industry. However, by January 2025, the brand had slipped to the 7 spot in terms of sales, a trend that has been ongoing for almost four decades. The decline of Budweiser not only owes to the threat of imports and craft breweries but also the changing preferences of younger generations for more exclusive and exotic options. The formerly invincible brand of Budweiser now struggles to remain in this fiercely competitive environment where brands of the moment are always in season.
2. The Case of Bud Light
But all this changed with the partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, an influencer, in April 2023, which started a boycott that rapidly reduced sales by 21% over the previous year. But by February 2025, it was down 40% compared to levels prior to the crisis. The crisis has removed a staggering $1.4 billion from the top-line revenue for Anheuser-Busch in North America and over $27 billion from market cap. The rate at which the sales are recovering, just 0.1-0.2 points of market share every few weeks, is remarkably slow, according to Anheuser-Busch CEO Michel Doukeris.
3. Industry Wide Contraction
The US brewing industry is in contraction, down from 189 million barrels in 2016/2017 to an estimated 160 million in 2025, with shipments under 200 million for the first time since 1999 in 2023. However, Gallup polling shows levels of booze consumption register record lows, with even behemoths being forced to consolidate. And, with contraction comes no margin for error, as when overall volumes shrink, giants must shrink capacity as well.
4. The Flagging Momentum in the Craft Beer Market
Craft beer, once the favorite of the drinks industry, finds itself on the back foot. Output fell by 4% last year to 23.1 million barrels. It marked a third consecutive year of falling production. For the first time in 20 years, breweries shut down more outlets than they opened by a margin of 501 to 434. “We’re no longer in the safe harbor”, said economist Matt Gacioch of the Brewers Association amidst rising inflation, tariffs, and consumer trends.
5. “New Leaders” Capture Market Share
Though Modelo Especial leads in dollars sold since June 2023, Michelob Ultra claims top spot by volume sales in U.S. beers with 8.5% market share overall. Both brands have seen market share from declines in Budweiser and Bud Light sales. The story of Michelob Ultra, however, typifies rewarded innovation and immediacy offered by high-tier brands such as itself and against traditional brands that continue to decline.
6. Fairfield Trembles before Economic Shock Waves
The closing of the Fairfield, California, brewery will annually result in a loss of $22.9 million to the economy, which includes a loss of $10.7 million a year in property taxes and a loss of $1.2 to 1.5 million in water department revenue. “It’s going to be another nail in our beautiful state that will sink it further,” said Catherine Moy, the mayor. The 238 jobs threatened by the closing, as well as the 306 jobs in construction, food, and transportation, will all be lost. The extremely specialized nature of this facility will leave it empty for many years.
7. Modernization Takes the Better of the Legacy Sites
Although $2 billion invested in 100 facilities within five years, modernization and upgrading were more inclined toward new and automated facilities. Merrimack Brewery was considered an “outdated and scaled-down” business in the reporting of December 2025. The new system is less inclined toward emotional consideration and more so on mass production.
8. Weed Beverages Shake Up Sales of Alcohol
The THB drinks industry started from an estimated valuation of 3.09 billion in the year 2024 and amounted to 117.05 billion by the end of 2032, registering a growth rate of 57.5% CAGR. The hemp drink category is already known to be legal in most states and is increasingly taking shelf space away from beer at liquor stores. Companies like Top Ten Liquors claim that sales of cannabis drinks contribute 15% of their sales, having higher margins compared to those of beer.
9. Union Protections Are Not Enough
Although the Teamsters had signed off on the new 2024 contract terms in June, there was promise of job security and pay raises; still, the closings persisted. There are reports that the union leadership had been made aware of the closings but did nothing to alert the workers. Relocation offers come without any promise of similar work or pay in other facilities, where there had been no severance offered in the past.
10. Shareholder interests ahead of domestic investments
In October 2025, the company announced a $6 billion stock repurchase, even as U.S. sales decreased by 3.7% and operating profit decreased by 49% year-over-year in the third quarter. Its CEO, Doukeris, emphasized the brewery’s focus on serving the long-term interests of their shareholders: While the shareholder interests are now the focus, the interests of the community are also affected.
11. The Shift of Culture Away From Mass-Market Beer
Younger consumers are consuming less beer, with 19% of them substituting booze with cannabis, and 25% are engaged in “Dry January” by 2025. Their preferences are drifting toward craft high-end beer, non-ABV drinks, and functional beverages. And by those standards, it seems that Budweiser’s mass marketing stands perhaps even more awkwardly than any brand within today’s cultural landscape. Not only desirable, but necessary, reinvention would seem indicated.
This latest shrink of Budweiser’s seems less an action of corporate trimming than an instant of an ever-changing landscape of an entire industry. Cultures and competition and economic shockwaves in local communities are all part of an interrelated nexus that reshapes today’s American beer industry landscape.
