The Beer Institute today announced it has hired Denise Dunckel as its new vice president of public affairs. Dunckel joins the BI — which represents America’s brewers, beer importers and industry suppliers — just three months after former VP of communications, Chris Thorne, departed the organization. In a statement, McGreevy described Dunckel — who previously served as senior vice president of external affairs with Blackstone’s Invitation Homes — as a “proven leader in strategic communications.”
According to IRI, which tracks off-premise sales in grocery, drug, club, dollar, mass-merchandiser and military stores, the craft pilsner category has added more than 317,000 cases year-to-date (through Aug. 9). Only four other categories – IPA (3,507,963 cases), Variety (557,753 cases), Fruit/Veggie/Spiced beer (493,344 cases) and Pale Ale (349,240 cases) – have added more incremental volume in 2015. That’s significant, and no doubt one of the factors prompting Goose Island, which is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, to rollout its own craft take on the classic pale lager style.
Two months after debuting its $2 million “Why Woodchuck” advertising campaign, Vermont Hard Cider has lifted the veil on a completely redesigned set of core packages. First teased in June, the new “deconstructed” six-packs, as Vermont Hard Cider’s vice president of sales Terry Hopper describes them, feature a more stylized arch to the “Woodchuck” type and focus on the primary flavors in each of the company’s core offerings: Amber, Granny Smith Pear and Hopsation.
Founders Brewing yesterday announced plans to expand distribution to New Mexico, signing with Premier Beverage for coverage throughout the state. In the statement, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based beer company said it plans to launch product in New Mexico as early as October.
Dogfish Head’s new $5 million Rehoboth Beach brewpub project cleared its final hurdle last week, earning a site plan approval from the town’s board of commissioners. The board voted unanimously to approve a plan that will include a new restaurant, brewpub, distillery, outdoor courtyard, merchandise shop and a live music staging area.
There are now more than a dozen craft brewers looking to sell all or parts of their businesses, according to a Reuters article that, citing unnamed sources, claims beer companies like Lagunitas, SweetWater Brewing, Ballast Point and even Dogfish Head are exploring transactions. One of those companies, New York City’s Brooklyn Brewery, has consistently turned down investments from private equity firms for more than 20 years, founder Steve Hindy told the news service.
Appalachian Mountain Brewery (AMB) has extended its strategic partnership with Craft Brew Alliance (CBA), entering into an alternating proprietorship agreement that will include increased production of the North Carolina-based company’s core beers at the larger company’s east coast brewery. In an earnings release, AMB said it is “excited to be able to increase capacity significantly by leveraging excess capacity that CBA has in Portsmouth, N.H.”
Inc. Magazine’s annual ranking of the top 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. is out and, not surprisingly, several craft breweries made the cut. Nine craft breweries appeared on this year’s list, which is ranked according to percentage revenue growth over a four-year period.
To keep up with growing demand for its products on the Mainland, Maui Brewing has made a number of wholesale moves in California and Nevada. The company yesterday announced expanded distribution along California’s central coast, signing with four new distributors for coverage throughout Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Luis Obispo. Maui has signed agreements with Chrissa Imports, Central Coast Distributing, Delta Pacific Beverage and Pipeline Beverage.
Deschutes Brewery has signed agreements with three new beer wholesalers in Michigan, the company announced today. The brewery, based in Bend, Ore., has inked deals with Alliance Beverage in Western Michigan, Fabiano Brothers in Central Michigan, and Daniel L Jacob & Co. for coverage in “Ann Arbor South.”
After 25 years at the helm of New Belgium Brewing, co-founder Kim Jordan will step down as CEO and transition into a new role as executive chair of the brewery’s Board of Directors, the company announced today. Current president and chief operations officer Christine Perich, who began her career at New Belgium in 2000 and has also previously served as the company’s chief financial officer, has been named CEO. She will take over on October 9, the company said.
Shares of Craft Brew Alliance (BREW) plunged today following yesterday’s after-hours release of weaker than expected second quarter earnings. During a quarterly earnings call, CEO Andy Thomas tried his best to reassure investors that the company’s performance in home markets, and its continued investment against a long-term strategy of improving gross margins, were bright spots in an otherwise disappointing three-month period.
It took 18 months, but Port Brewing/The Lost Abbey has finally bought out its disgraced former CFO, James Comstock. Comstock, a founding partner in the Port Brewing/Lost Abbey business, was arrested on Dec. 18, 2013 on charges that he took more than $200,000 from a San Diego-area nonprofit, ArtSplash, where he served as treasurer. Following his arrest, Comstock was immediately let go from the beer company and eventually pleaded guilty to embezzlement charges last July. He was sentenced to three years probation.
Anheuser-Busch InBev just announced a pair of wholesaler transactions in Colorado that will give the world’s largest beer company direct access to a majority of the state’s population and a distribution foothold across nearly half of the state’s geography. In a statement, Bob Tallett, A-B InBev’s vice president of business and wholesaler development, said the company has agreed to purchase American Eagle Distributing in Loveland, Colo. for an undisclosed sum.
