Things change quickly in the beer business. On October 16th, Lou Romano — then the director of marketing and wholesaler development at D.G. Yuengling Brewery — was helping the country’s oldest brewery evaluate the Massachusetts market for a possible reentrance in 2014.
Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) — which produces and markets the Widmer, Kona, Redhook and Omission craft beer brands as well as Square Mile Cider — today announced that, effective January 1, 2014, Andy Thomas will take over as the company’s new CEO. Thomas, who has served as CBA’s president of commercial operations since June 2011,… Read more »
Atlanta’s Sweetwater Brewing today announced the hiring of Kimberly Jones, who has been named the company’s new chief financial officer, according to a release. Jones, who most recently served as vice president and corporate controller with SPANX, an Atlanta-based women’s apparel company, brings more than 15 years of executive financial and management experience to Sweetwater.
There’s beer on the brain in Bentonville. Walmart, the largest retailer in the world, has said it wants to double its alcohol sales by 2016. One area of the store Walmart would like to see customers spending more time is the beer aisle.
The stage has been set for a classic Western shootout, but it’s not about Arizona horse rustlin’ — it’s about Arizona beer distributin’. The showdown is over North Coast Brewing, which is attempting to switch from its current distributor, Crescent Crown Distributing, to Hensley Beverage Company.
In search of a way to meet demand without putting a strain on his current brewing capacity, Joey Redner, the founder of Tampa, Fla.-based Cigar City Brewing headed to Puerto Rico. Located in Ponce, on the southern coast of the island, is the recently shuttered Cervezas del Sur brewery.
At this point, Rich Doyle — the co-founder of Boston’s Harpoon Brewery — could probably spend an entire day sharing business lessons from the past 27 years in the beer industry. But at yesterday’s Beer Marketer’s INSIGHTS conference in New York City, Doyle needed less than 30-minutes to provide the 200 or so beer executives… Read more »
Nearly one year after it acquired Chesapeake, Virginia-based Chesbay Distributing Company and Chicago-based Windy City Distribution, Reyes Beverage Group has announced it will make yet another purchase, this time in Southern California. The company plans to purchase Allied Beverages Inc., a wholesaler located in Sylmar, Calif. selling about 12.6 million cases annually.
On Wednesday, Craft Brew Alliance — makers of Widmer Brothers, Redhook, Kona, Omission and Square Mile Cider — reported record third quarter depletion growth of 14 percent compared to last year. During an earnings call on Thursday, CBA attributed the positive growth trends to its national portfolio strategy of offering retailers and customers a variety… Read more »
Deschutes Brewery recently announced that it will to broaden its sales footprint in 2014 with new distribution in Ohio and Kentucky. The brewery will open the new territories beginning in January. The country’s fifth-largest craft beer company announced Tuesday that it signed a wholesale agreement with Heidelberg Distributing Company’s Rampant Brands Division, which services Ohio’s… Read more »
While walking the aisles of a beer store last week, I overheard two customers discussing the expansive array of craft beer brands on the shelf. “It is amazing to me how many beers there are now,” one of the shoppers said. “How does anyone decide which one they are going to buy?”
Since its launch in 1989, Odell Brewing has prided itself on a core belief that slow, steady growth is the healthiest way to build a beer brand. Over the last 24 years, Odell has been careful not to grow its distribution footprint beyond ten Rocky Mountain and Western Plain states.
After nearly two years of searching, Ballast Point has finally found a home for its new 150-barrel brewhouse. The San Diego-based craft brewery today announced that it has begun construction on a $12 million brewing facility in the Miramar district of San Diego.
The Boston Beer Company, makers of Samuel Adams, reported record-breaking, third quarter depletions growth of 26 percent on Wednesday, driven by consumer demand for a broad portfolio of offerings that also includes the Twisted Tea and Angry Orchard brands. Core shipment volume grew 29 percent to 993,000 barrels during the quarter.
