Pabst Brewing Company

Irish cider company C&C Group plc., owner of the Vermont Hard Cider Company, today announced that it will end its 2-year-old U.S. marketing and distribution agreement with Pabst Brewing on April 1. In a letter to distributors and retailers, Vermont Hard Cider — whose brands include Woodchuck, Gumption, and Wyder’s, among others — said the two companies mutually agreed to terminate the strategic partnership forged in December 2015.

For the second time in as many years, Pabst Brewing Company will undergo a major round of layoffs, today announcing that it has eliminated a total of 70 positions from the company. The cuts — which impacted employees across all areas of the organization, including sales, marketing, operations and administration — are being made to help the company reduce its cost basis by 15 percent.

Ten months after Pabst Brewing Company terminated agreements with three Washington wholesalers, an arbitrator has determined that Columbia Distributing — which was awarded the distribution rights to several Pabst brands last February — owes a combined $21.2 million to The Odom Corporation, Craig Stein Beverage, and Marine View Beverage.

As the end of 2017 draws near, U.S. beer volume sales remain roughly flat, according to recent data from Chicago-based market research firm IRI Worldwide. IRI, which tracks beer sales at off-premise retailers, reported that total beer sales through the first 11 months of 2017 exceeded $31.8 billion in the firm’s multi-outlet and convenience. Through December 3, U.S. beer volume sales declined 0.5 percent while total beer dollar sales increased 1.1 percent.

The entrepreneurs behind the once-caffeinated and controversial flavored malt beverage, Four Loko, are diversifying. Following the April launch of Four Loko Shots, a line of flavored spirits checking in at 35 percent ABV, Four Loko parent Phusion Projects, via its Innovative Wine & Spirits subsidiary, last week struck a deal with Pabst Brewing Company to market, sell and distribute its first bourbon brand under the Not Your Father’s label.

In a move toward diversifying its portfolio and reaching spirits consumers, Pabst Brewing Company today announced a foray into the crafts spirits space with the launch of Not Your Father’s Bourbon. The 86 proof (43 percent ABV), small-batch bourbon is the first product to be launched in a new line of spirits under the Not Your Father’s label, which includes the popular Not Your Father’s Root Beer flavored malt beverage as well as hard vanilla cream and ginger ale offerings, among others.

Generation Z is coming, and brewers and wholesalers need to figure out to speak to the next group of legal drinking age consumers, Pabst Brewing Company CEO Simon Thorpe told an audience of beer industry professionals during a Brew Talks meetup last week in Las Vegas.

Brewbound is pleased to announce speakers for its upcoming Brew Talks meetups, taking place alongside the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver and National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) convention in Las Vegas. The two events give brewers and distributors attending the GABF and NBWA meetings a chance to engage in thought-provoking business discussion alongside their industry peers.

New Holland Brewing announced last week that it would begin shipping beer to a network of wholesalers in Florida, Maine and New Hampshire while also expanding its coverage in upstate New York as part of a sales and distribution partnership inked last year with Pabst Brewing Company.

The executive shuffle at Pabst Brewing Company continued on Thursday, as the company announced the appointment of a new chief marketing officer to oversee its entire portfolio of heritage, craft, import, cider and flavored malt beverage brands. Matt Bruhn, who most recently served as the CMO for GWA Group Limited, an Australian supplier of building fixtures and fittings, will formally take over as the CMO of Pabst on October 2, according to a press release.

Fighting an ugly court case, but in charge of distributing more than a half-million cases of beer annually, Northern Nevada-based beer wholesaler Crown Beverages ceased operations on June 30, Brewbound has learned. Many of the beer brands Crown once distributed have found a new route to market via competing wholesalers that deliver to retailers in the area.

Rich Pascucci, who most recently served as the chief growth officer for Pabst Brewing Company, has been tapped to help lead Evolution Spirits, makers of Monkey Rum. Pascucci joined Evolution Spirits earlier this month and will serve as its chief growth officer and head of sales. The company was co-founded by television personality Zane Lamprey and is backed by Vita Coco co-founder Mike Kirban, former Vitaminwater CMO Rohan Oza and other notable beverage industry insiders.

Small Town Brewery serves up ice-cold refreshment with the introduction of Not Your Father’s Mountain Ale, from America’s Favorite Flavored Brewing Company.

In this edition of Press Clips: C&C Group continues to struggle in the U.S. market; Target plans to sell more craft; Meijer now offering beer delivery in Michigan; and much more.