The established craft breweries of the 90s face this dilemma on a daily basis. With new breweries entering the space every day and consumer preferences changing faster than a rotating draft line, older beer companies that aren’t evolving risk losing the interest of today’s promiscuous craft drinker. Thus change has come to Michigan’s New Holland Brewing and after 18 years, the company is making some dramatic alterations to the its flagship IPA and its overall go-to-market strategies.
Last July, when Harpoon Brewery co-founder Rich Doyle announced he would step down as CEO and sell his interest in a beer company he’d helped to build over 28 years, many in the space wondered what his next move would be. Less than nine months later, Doyle’s future in beer is much more clear.
Less than nine months after selling at least a 40 percent stake in Harpoon Brewery, the country’s 15th largest craft beer company, co-founder and former CEO Rich Doyle is back in the game. Backed by an investment from San Francisco-based private equity firm Friedman, Fleisher & Lowe, Doyle has launched Enjoy Beer LLC, a consortium aimed at providing back-office support to independent craft brewers.
In just one week, more than 10,000 beer industry professionals will descend on Portland, Ore. for the Brewers Association’s annual Craft Brewers Conference. This year’s event, happening April 14-17 at the Oregon Convention Center, is slated to be the organization’s largest conference ever. Trying to decide which talks to attend is the stuff hangovers are made of. That’s why we’ve hand-selected 9 must-see seminars for the company owner looking to take his business to the next level.
While there wasn’t much eyebrow raising movement amongst craft’s more popular styles, there was one shocking statistic: the 180 degree turnaround of the pilsner category. At this time last year, sales of craft pilsners were down 5.4 percent in MULC. Fast-forward 365 days and sales are now up more than 100 percent. Pilsners are now 1 percent of all craft beers sold, according to IRI.
January and February were brutal months for industry-wide beer shipments, which declined 6.9 percent, according to the Beer Institute. As harsh winter storms and cold weather ransacked the northeast into early March, DC Brau CEO Brandon Skall stared at tanks full of beer and nowhere to put it.
Building on its strategic partnership with North Carolina’s Appalachian Mountain Brewing (AMB), Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) today announced it has signed an agreement to become the company’s master distributor. The new agreement will give the smaller brewer access to CBA’s nationwide network of Anheuser-Busch wholesalers in exchange for an undisclosed per-case distribution fee.
The Brewers Association today released its annual ranking of the top 50 U.S. craft breweries, based on 2014 sales volumes. This year’s list, however, had two glaring differences from prior versions. Four previously-excluded companies, including the top brewer, Yuengling, made the list in 2014 after the BA altered its definition of what it means to be a “craft brewer” last March, dethroning longtime leader Boston Beer Company for the title of “largest U.S. craft brewery.”
Atlantic Importing, the Massachusetts-based beer, wine and spirits distributor of brands like Dogfish Head, Stone Brewing and Boston-area stalwart Jack’s Abby today announced plans to open an outpost in Rhode Island. Citing an opportunity to “expand regional visibility” as a triple threat wholesaler, Atlantic has invested in new, centrally located 12,000 sq. ft. distribution facility in Coventry, RI. The new site will serve as the company’s home base for statewide distribution of select beer, wine and spirits brands.
Oskar Blues has agreed to purchase Michigan’s Perrin Brewing Company, a smaller craft operation founded in 2011. The pickup may be the first in a series of investments for Oskar Blues, a top-25 craft brewery. The acquisition is backed by investments from Fireman Capital Partners and former West Side Distributing owner, Keith Klopcic, according to Oskar Blues’ founder, Dale Katechis. He said the transaction is expected to close within the next 60 days.
The Brazilian billionaires behind the Anheuser-Busch InBev merger have negotiated another blockbuster deal, this time involving two huge U.S. food companies – Kraft Foods and H.J. Heinz Co. The tieup, valued at $40 billion, is backed by global investment firm 3G Capital and Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
International interest in American craft beer is surging, according to new data from the Brewers Association. In a press statement, the BA – which represents the interests of small and independent U.S. craft brewers – said American craft beer exports grew 35.7 percent in 2014, to more than 383,000 barrels and a retail value of nearly $100 million.
Oskar Blues is one state closer to becoming the next nationally distributed craft beer brand. The craft brewery – which operates production facilities in Lyons, Colo. and Brevard, N.C. – today announced plans to expand into Louisiana, the 42nd state where its products are now sold. Building on an existing partnership with the 28-million case Crescent Crown Distributing in Arizona, Oskar Blues signed an agreement with the wholesaler’s Louisiana outfit for coverage throughout the southern part of the state.
Diageo has announced plans to supply serving facts information on its alcohol beverage products and voluntarily provide consumers with additional caloric and nutritional information. After years of asking the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) for permission to label its beer, wine and spirits products with serving facts information, Diageo finally convinced the TTB to temporarily approve the request in 2013.
