Jessica Infante joined Brewbound in 2019 after nearly a decade in a variety of marketing roles in the craft beer industry. Prior to that, she was a daily newspaper reporter at the Jersey Shore. Jess holds a bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and a master’s degree in integrated marketing communication from Emerson College. She is a certified Cicerone and lives in Salem, Massachusetts.
Boulevard Brewing Company has terminated three additional employees following the conclusion of a month-long independent external investigation into the Kansas City, Missouri-headquartered craft brewery’s operations following allegations that its culture was poisoned by harassment.
After terminating four workers from its Indianapolis taproom earlier this week, BrewDog has also let go of the employee who approved the firings and hired an external human relations firm to investigate. All four of the workers who were terminated on Monday, March 8, are members of the LGBTQ community; two are women and two are non-binary.
Eight in 10 regular craft beer drinkers believe breweries should be allowed to ship beer directly to consumers in more states than the 13 where the practice is legal, according to a study published by the Brewers Association (BA) and Sovos ShipCompliant.
Stone Brewing has hired former wine, spirits and cannabis executive Erin Smith as its next vice president of marketing. Smith’s arrival comes several weeks after the Escondido, California-headquartered craft brewery announced a reorganization of its sales and marketing teams.
Diageo has acquired fast-growing hard seltzer maker Far West Spirits LLC, which produces the Lone River Ranch Water brand.
Beer category dollar sales at off-premise retailers increased 11.3% during the four-week period ending February 20, according to market research firm NielsenIQ. At present, scan data is cycling the period in 2020 before COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns began and the on-premise channel was operating at full capacity. Consumer spending shifted almost exclusively to the off-premise channel in mid-March.
Sarasota, Florida-based JDub’s Brewing is alive and about to launch a new flagship offering, following its April 2020 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing thanks to a partnership with Orlando-based contract brewer Brew Theory.
Global cannabis sales grew by nearly half in 2020, according to BDSA, a cannabis market research firm based in Boulder, Colorado. Sales increased 48%, to $21.3 billion, compared to $14.4 billion in 2019.
After the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest was canceled for the second consecutive year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, brewmaster Matt Brynildson was inspired to finally pull the trigger on his goal of creating a special release bottle club at the Paso Robles, California-headquartered craft brewery.
Oregon lawmakers are considering a tax hike on alcoholic beverages that would increase taxes on malt beverages by $70 per barrel. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill in the early hours of Saturday, February 27. The bill includes a $25 billion fund for grants for bars, restaurants and breweries.
The Reyes Beer Division remains a very active acquirer in the state of California. The largest beer wholesaler in the U.S. continued to add to its business in the state today as its Harbor Distributing subsidiary signed an agreement to acquire Redding Distributing Company in Northern California.
Employees of Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned Platform Beer Company’s taproom in Columbus, Ohio, walked out en masse on Saturday, February 27, citing unsafe working conditions, according to social media posts.
“As a global pandemic ravaged the world, the country, the state and our very own city, Platform’s handling of the situation — and the praise for its employees — has been almost entirely performative,” the staff wrote in a letter that was shared online.
Anheuser-Busch InBev may be looking inward for a possible successor for CEO Carlos Brito. According to Bloomberg News, Michel Doukeris, CEO of A-B’s U.S. business, is the front-runner to succeed Brito.
Consumers spent $97 million on craft beer through e-commerce in 2020, which accounted for 24% of all beer category dollar sales online. In brick-and-mortar stores, however, craft beer makes up 12.6% of all dollar sales. In fact, craft has the second largest dollar share behind flavored malt beverages (32%), which include hard seltzers.
