Allagash Brewing is heading to the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
The Portland, Maine-headquartered craft brewery will enter Minnesota this month with Clear River Beverage Company, it announced in a press release.
“While our home Northeast market continues to be critical for us, our team is looking forward to further strengthening Allagash’s ties in the Midwest,” sales director Josh Fruchtman said in the release. “With our recent expansion in Wisconsin and Illinois over the past few years, coupled with Minnesota’s rich brewing history, we’re continuing our push to thoughtfully open in more Midwestern territories with plenty of potential.”
Fruchtman told Brewbound it was solid sales data in Wisconsin and Illinois that pushed Allagash to expand to Minnesota.
“Additionally, Allagash is relatively strong in the Midwest. While the on-premise has been challenging for craft beer (-7.6% year-to-date), our business in that channel in Illinois and Wisconsin is about flat,” he said, citing Beer Institute sales-to-retailer data year-to-date through September 30. “Because of our strength in the Midwest, we feel we can establish a robust presence in the Twin Cities with Clear River.”
Clear River’s territory includes the 15 counties that surround Minneapolis and St. Paul, which is home to two-thirds of the state’s population, according to the release. The craft-centric distributor’s book also includes imports, cider, wine, spirits, non-alcoholic beverages and THC- and CBD-infused drinks.
Allagash will offer the following products and package formats in Minnesota:
- White in 16 oz. can 4-packs, 12 oz. can 6- and 12-packs, 19.2 oz. single-serve cans, and draft;
- Tripel in 12 oz. bottle 6-packs;
- Curieux in 12 oz. bottle 4-packs;
- And the seasonal House Series (Ski House, Surf House, Haunted House) in 12 oz. can 6- and 12-packs.
Allagash has famously kept a tight distribution footprint after retrenching in the mid-2000s, which founder Rob Tod detailed during a keynote address at the New England Brew Summit in February 2020. In 2005, Allagash sold 5,000 barrels while distributing to 26 states on both coasts and Washington, D.C. Minnesota was not among those markets.
By 2019, the brewery pared its footprint back to the East Coast from Maine to Georgia, plus Chicago and California, and sold 104,103 barrels, according to Brewers Association (BA) data.
Since then, Allagash has expanded its distribution in small steps. Its most recent new market was Florida in 2021, preceded by Wisconsin in 2020. In 2021, the brewery deepened its statewide presence in Illinois, after years of shipping only to Chicago.
Allagash west/central regional sales manager Heather Baragar will cover the new Minnesota market, and the company does not plan to hire a local rep to start, Fruchtman said.
“We also have an incredible partner in Clear River Beverage, and will be working with them as an ongoing partner in planning activations around our portfolio,” he added.
Last year, Allagash was the 15th largest craft brewery in the country by volume, according to the BA. Its output was flat year-over-year at 119,878 barrels of beer, according to the May/June issue of the BA’s New Brewer.
In the 52-week (L52W) period ending October 5, dollar sales of Allagash’s portfolio have declined -3.5% at off-premise retailers tracked by NIQ, according to data from 3 Tier Beverages. Those declines have decelerated to nearly flat in the L4W (-0.3%). This data does not include on-premise retailers and does not paint a full picture of Allagash’s business.
Editor’s note: this story was updated at 11 a.m. ET to include comments from Allagash sales director Josh Fruchtman.