Introduction Boston Beer Company was established by Jim Koch in 1984. The headquarters of the company are located in Massachusetts, and approximately 780 people are employed at the company. The company uses traditional methods to brew the best quality natural beer. Boston Beer manufactures beverages with low alcohol content and has concentrated on the US market. Samuel Adams is one of the brands of the company, which is brewed using the traditional methods. This brand has captured a great portion of the American market. In the financial year 2009, the company made $415.1 profits. The profits have been increasing over the years due to the increasing demand for the products of the company (Grant, 2009). Porter’s five forces analysis Bargaining power of consumers There is low bargaining power of consumers because there are large consumers who can influence the prices offered in the market. This has been caused by existence of many customers in the market. In addition, most customers buy in small scale. Therefore, there is no single customer with absolute control over the marketing decisions that are made by the company. in addition, the geographical spread of various consumer groups does not give customers the power to control the pricing decisions of the company. However, with the increase in number of retail outlets such as Wal-Mart who can buy in large quantities, the bargaining power is increasing. The producers use the forces of demand and supply to price their products (Schmitt, 2011). Bargaining power of suppliers The bargaining power of suppliers is low. There is no unique supplier. Raw materials are easily accessible, and this makes it impossible to have monopoly in the supply of supplies. Suppliers are many and there is no single supplier with ultimate control in the market. However, in the last one decade a scenario where suppliers are reducing in numbers has been experienced. For example, suppliers of hops and grains have declined drastically in numbers. This has provided suppliers with more power to control the pricing strategy of the company (Schmitt, 2011). Rivalry among competitors Rivalry among competitors is very high. There are many companies in the beverages industry, and this is causing high competition among the existing firms. In addition, the products in the industry are not differentiable. The industry has reached its final growth stages, and this is making it impossible to introduce new differentiated products. Companies in the industry have differentiated their products and this has increased the level of competition. Beers and breweries have been differentiated to attract the attention of many customers in the market. For instance, craft brewing has seen only an increase in volume and sales over the past 20 years. This has increased rivalry among existing companies in the market (Schmitt, 2011). The graphs below show an increase in competition in the industry. Source: Brewers Association (2011) Threat of substitutes There are many substitutes in the industry, and this increases threat from substitute products. There are many alternatives to beer, such as wine, sprits and liquors. Apart from the alcoholic beverages, consumers can drink coffee, tea, and other non-alcoholic beverages. The number of beverages is increasin