The faster beer companies embrace segments that are connecting with consumers, the quicker the overall industry can return to growth, Mike’s Hard Lemonade president Phil Rosse told thousands of wholesalers during the National Beer Wholesalers Association’s (NBWA) annual convention in San Diego. “I think that’s what’s ultimately going to give the industry its best chance to get back to growth,” Rosse said during a panel that also featured D.G. Yuengling & Sons Inc. COO Dave Casinelli and Dogfish Head Craft Brewery co-founder Sam Calagione.
Under the specter of Constellation Brands potentially forcing additional sales of its distribution rights in California, leaders from the National Beer Wholesalers Association stressed the importance of protecting state franchise laws to thousands of wholesalers and industry professionals attending the trade association’s annual convention in San Diego. NBWA chairman Jim Matesich, without naming Constellation Brands, pointed to trade press headlines from June when the beverage alcohol company forced Markstein Beverage Co. to sell its distribution rights in northern San Diego County to Reyes Beverage Group. “Terminations without cause, particularly of distributors that took risks and helped build those brands create distrust in trading partners,” he said.
During Boston Beer Company’s annual Great American Beer Festival breakfast, founder Jim Koch unveiled a new series of Samuel Adams ads and announced a new grant program that will give $1 million to early stage food and beverage companies. Koch said the new series of folksy ads, which highlight hop selection in Germany for Samuel Adams’ flagship Boston Lager, focus on “craftsmanship” and “artisanal values.” The ads end with the tagline: “Brewed inefficiently since 1984.”
In this week’s Press Clips: Anheuser-Busch plans to feature NBA and MLB athletes in ad campaigns; Celis Brewery assumes sales responsibilities for Uncle Billy’s and Pedernales brands; the Beer Institute releases domestic tax paid estimate for August; and more news.
In the second episode of the Brewbound Podcast, New Realm Brewing co-founder Carey Falcone joins Brewbound editor Chris Furnari in a discussion about his career in the brewing business and the launch of the Atlanta-based beer company. Throughout the conversation, Falcone talks about his experience as a first-time entrepreneur, New Realm’s core values, the process of getting the brewery off the ground, and how he convinced former Stone Brewing Company brewmaster Mitch Steele to move across the country to join a startup in the South.
Massachusetts Beverage Alliance (MBA) today announced the official launch of Homegrown Distribution, a boutique wholesaler focused on overlooked craft brands not currently getting enough attention from a network of five pre-existing wholesale partners across the state. As an offshoot of MBA, Homegrown Distribution will assume statewide sales and delivery responsibilities for several brands.
During a meeting with his company’s distribution partners, Dogfish Head founder and CEO Sam Calagione compared the brewery to a shark: In order to survive, it must keep swimming forward. Speaking to a room full beer wholesalers and brewery employees on Tuesday morning, Dogfish Head executives unveiled their 2019 plans along with an ask. Dogfish wants its distribution partners to prioritize sales of 60-Minute IPA and SeaQuench Ale.
Surging freight costs, a shortage of long-haul truck drivers and new laws restricting the number of hours that drivers can be on the road are cutting into profits of beer companies and other major corporations throughout the United States. Although increased transportation costs are affecting all consumer goods industries, Beer Institute chief economist Michael Uhrich told Brewbound that they’re disproportionately affecting the beer industry because the vast majority of beer sold domestically is shipped. Last year, beer companies shipped 2.9 billion cases of beer, according to the National Beer Wholesalers Association.
This week’s Middle Tier Headlines include: Ska Brewing exits Texas; Cigar City begins exporting to Scandinavia; Maine Beer Company adds Georgia distribution; the NBWA releases the latest Beer Purchaser’s Index; and more news.
In this week’s edition of Last Call: Stone Brewing hires a new COO, Atlanta’s Wild Heaven Beer unveils a $5 pale ale at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Anheuser-Busch heir Adolphus A. Busch V launches a cannabis company and more.
Wine and spirits brands are cutting into the growth of the craft beer segment, according to Patrick Livingston, director of client insights for market research firm IRI. Livingston, who led yesterday’s Power Hour presentation hosted by the Brewers Association (BA), said craft beer dollar sales were up just 1.7 percent in IRI’s multi-outlet off-premise U.S. retail universe (excluding convenience stores) through July 8. Livingston added that craft has begun to plateau in off-premise channels, with volume sales leveling off since late March.
Several beer companies throughout North and South Carolina have temporarily halted operations in preparation for Hurricane Florence, which is set to make landfall over the next 24 hours, bringing with it wind gusts exceeding 74 mph and days of storm surges, flooding and double-digit rainfall. States of emergency have been declared in the Carolinas, and the governors in those states have urged more than 1 million residents of coastal towns to evacuate. Georgia, Virginia and Maryland have also issued emergency orders. Palmetto Brewing Co., which was acquired in late 2017 by Catawba Brewing Co., shut down on Wednesday, with its 20 employees being encouraged to evacuate the area.
Brewbound is excited to announce the launch of its namesake podcast series, which will feature interviews with the beer industry’s top founders and executives, as well as promising newcomers. New episodes of the Brewbound Podcast, which is co-hosted by Brewbound editors Chris Furnari and Justin Kendall, will be published every Thursday.
As the U.S. brewing industry inches closer to a record 7,000 craft beer companies in operation, hundreds of distressed breweries are expected to close in 2019 and many of those failed enterprises will turn to asset auctions as a way to pay off debt. Brewers Association chief economist Bart Watson told Brewbound during a live-streamed interview at last week’s California Craft Brewers Association Summit that he anticipates as many as 300 brewery closures by the end of 2018. According to Watson, he expects the gap between openings and closings to shrink over time, and there could be as many as 500 closures in the next couple of years. The increasing number of brewery closures has also meant an uptick in business for auction houses.
