Sapporo Holdings

Check out news items initially reported in the Brewbound Insider Newsletter, including headlines from River Barrel Distributing, Go Brewing, Angry Orchard and others.

The summer selling season wraps up this weekend with Labor Day Monday, and one of the hottest segments of the summer has been hard sports drinks. Brewbound editor Justin Kendall and senior reporter Zoe Licata dive into the fast-growing segment and how their views have shifted on it over the last year.

Sapporo USA will lay off 58 Stone Brewing workers across three California facilities effective October 19, according to an August 19 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice filed with the state.

Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) plans to lay off 160 workers in Alaska by September 4, the company wrote in a July 6 WARN Act notice.

Firestone Walker and Duvel USA have inked a “definitive agreement” to acquire the Stone Brewing brand from Sapporo USA.

Sapporo-Stone Brewing’s strategy for 2026 is to double the size of Sapporo Premium while tapping into pockets of growth for incremental gains, company leaders shared during a virtual distributor meeting last week.

This summer is shaping up to be one of the most unpredictable seasons that Columbia Distributing CEO Chris Steffanci has ever experienced.

Sapporo-Stone has conducted a “small-scale reduction” in its workforce as the company continues to find the right balance for the combined operations of its Japanese import beer and California craft business.

With wind in its sails from accelerating grocery sales, Sapporo has set its sights on multi-channel expansion. The 149-year-old brand has been invigorated in recent years as Sapporo-Stone, the combined entity born from the former’s acquisition of the latter in 2022, takes shape.

Sapporo Holdings has taken a more than $91.5 million (JPY 13.9 billion) impairment charge on the goodwill of its Stone Brewing business, which the Japanese brewing giant acquired nearly three years ago for $165 million.

While beer consumers – particularly core craft fans – once cared more about brand and where a product was made, most bev-alc consumers are now prioritizing price, quality and availability, among other factors. This has caused not only a shift in how craft beer is produced and marketed (hello, contract brewing boom), but also trends in imported beer.

The 2025 plan for Stone Brewing is addition by subtraction, discontinuing several “unproductive” brands and packages nationally, including special releases, the Enjoy By IPA series and large-format bottles in order to put a heavy emphasis on core brands, as well the expansion of newish lager brands.

Sapporo-Stone workers in Virginia have begun a union drive, VinePair’s Dave Infante reported Monday. Workers are seeking “higher pay, more consistent scheduling and better working conditions,” per the report.

Sapporo-Stone Brewing is officially making Zach Keeling its new CEO. Keeling was appointed interim CEO in January when then-CEO Maria Stipp stepped down from the role after guiding the Escondido, California-headquartered brewery through its 2022 acquisition by the Japanese brewing giant and through its integration.