A pair of small Michigan beer companies are set to merge in an effort to better compete with larger brewing operations. Royal Oak-based Roak Brewing Co. announced this week that it is in the process of acquiring Traverse City’s Right Brain Brewery. Speaking to Brewbound, Roak Brewing co-owner and CEO John Leone said the deal is expected to close in the next 60 to 90 days, pending approval from the Michigan Liquor Control Commission. He declined to share specific financial terms of the deal, noting that some details of the transaction are still finalized.
Constellation Brands reported its second-quarter fiscal 2019 earnings today, which were highlighted by 10.1 percent growth in beer depletions (sales-to-retailers) and an 8.7 percent increase in shipments (sales-to-wholesalers) for the comparable three-month period ending August 31. Net sales of Constellation Brands’ beer portfolio increased 10.5 percent during the quarter, to more than $1.5 billion.
In episode four of the Brewbound Podcast, editor Chris Furnari sits down with Braxton Brewing co-founder Jake Rouse to discuss his journey as a beer entrepreneur, collaboration and partnership strategies, and managing rapid growth.
Florida’s Cigar City Brewing, which sold to the Fireman Capital-backed Canarchy Craft Brewery Collective in 2016, is quickly emerging as the consortium’s most promising brand. Growing at more than 60 percent year-to-date, the Tampa-based craft brewery has already shipped more than 107,000 barrels of beer through the first nine months of 2018 and is on pace to produce an estimated 143,000 barrels.
Citing a “challenging” craft beer market, California’s Lagunitas Brewing said Tuesday that it would slash 12 percent of its workforce in a move that will impact at least 100 employees. The announcement comes about 17 months after Heineken International completed its purchase of the Petaluma-headquartered craft brewery.
The craft brewing industry has reached its “most competitive moment,” but that’s not necessarily “a bad thing,” Dogfish Head co-founder Sam Calagione said during a “state of the industry” panel discussion at the final Brew Talks meetup of 2018. Calagione, along with Revolution Brewing chief commercial officer Donn Bichsel and Canarchy Brewery Collective president and COO Matt Fraser, explained to more than 150 beer industry professionals how they’re navigating through the so-called “noise” in the space.
Another round of leadership changes is on tap at Anheuser-Busch. Months after splitting its so-called “High End” craft and import division into two separate business units, and after it reorganized its North American sales and marketing teams, Anheuser-Busch today announced that Felipe Szpigel would leave his post as president of the craft business unit for a newly created position within the company.
“We budget to fail,” Monday Night Brewing co-founder Jeff Heck shared during Brewbound’s final Brew Talks meetup of 2018. Joining a panel discussion that examined innovation within the craft space, Heck along with The Bruery founder Patrick Rue and Calicraft Brewing founder Blaine Landberg, gave more than 150 beer industry professionals a peek into their individual innovation strategies, which includes both success and failures.
In this week’s Last Call: Scofflaw’s UK foray is marred by a ‘rogue’ press release, Rivertowne Brewing is on the auction block, and the New Jersey ABC imposes new rules on breweries.
Want to stand out at the Great American Beer Festival? Open your checkbook. At the 2019 GABF, put on by industry trade group the Brewers Association, large activations from deep-pocketed corporations took center stage, drawing throngs of beer drinkers to sprawling setups that included TVs, bar games and live music while 800 breweries pouring 4,000 beers scrapped for attention inside the Denver Convention Center.
In episode three of the Brewbound Podcast, Brewbound editors Chris Furnari and Justin Kendall sit down with Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and Tomme Arthur, the co-founder of Port Brewing and The Lost Abbey, for two separate conversations about beer, politics and the future of brewing.
Last week’s Great American Beer Festival was the largest in history, as a record 62,000 attendees turned out to sample over 4,000 beers from more than 800 breweries that were set up across 584,000 sq. ft. space inside the Denver Convention Center. Here are three takeaways from the 2018 GABF.
In an effort to curb beer’s dwindling share of the broader alcohol market, three major trade associations — the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA), the Brewers Association (BA) and the Beer Institute (BI) — have formed a group tasked with improving the health of the beer segment. During the NBWA’s annual convention Monday, outgoing chairman Jim Matesich announced the the formal launch of the “Beer Growth Initiative.” The effort is being spearheaded by alcoholic beverage consultancy Tamarron, along with leaders from the NBWA, BA and BI who are serving on a steering committee.
Newly appointed Heineken USA CEO Maggie Timoney, who earlier this month became the first female executive to lead a top five U.S. beer company, wants her performance, not her gender, to do the talking. “I’ll be judged on my results, not on whether I’m male or female,” she said, to applause from a crowd of mostly male beer distributors who attended the trade group’s annual meeting in San Diego.
