For 20 years, Harpoon’s flagship IPA didn’t needed another moniker. Throughout New England, the beer is known by most beer drinkers simply as IPA. But the IPA, having emerged as the most popular style in craft beer, according to IRI, has also become somewhat synonymous with extreme, hoppy, and bitter taste — what’s often called… Read more »
If IRI data is any kind of indicator, the craft beer category is on its way to yet another year of double-digit dollar sales growth in 2013. With just six weeks left in the year, Brewbound examined recent IRI reports in an attempt to spot some trends. A closer look into the data revealed some… Read more »
There’s beer on the brain in Bentonville. Walmart, the largest retailer in the world, has said it wants to double its alcohol sales by 2016. One area of the store Walmart would like to see customers spending more time is the beer aisle.
Massachusetts craft brewers who want more freedom to switch wholesalers are pushing for legislative change to what they believe are outdated beer distribution laws. The proposed House Bill 267 seeks to give brewers more power over their distribution rights. If passed, it will allow small brewers to easily opt out of relationships with wholesalers, a… Read more »
The stage has been set for a classic Western shootout, but it’s not about Arizona horse rustlin’ — it’s about Arizona beer distributin’. The showdown is over North Coast Brewing, which is attempting to switch from its current distributor, Crescent Crown Distributing, to Hensley Beverage Company.
The continued maturation of the craft beer category has enabled the Brewers Association (BA) — a not-for-profit trade association representing the interests of craft brewers — to expand. After nearly three decades at 736 Pearl Street in Boulder, Colo., the BA, which currently employs 47 staff members, will relocate its headquarters to a new, $4… Read more »
In search of a way to meet demand without putting a strain on his current brewing capacity, Joey Redner, the founder of Tampa, Fla.-based Cigar City Brewing headed to Puerto Rico. Located in Ponce, on the southern coast of the island, is the recently shuttered Cervezas del Sur brewery.
BrewDog is back at it, taking another stab a precisely defining “craft beer” as it applies to European countries. In October, brewery co-founders James Watt and Martin Dickie wrote on their blog that having a clear definition has helped craft beer become so popular in the United States.
Brewbound recently had a chance to catch up with Joe Kaczynski, Boston Beer Company’s National Channel Manager for Convenience, and Joshua Grab, the company’s Trade Marketing Manager, for an informal discussion about how the company approaches the convenience channel in terms of sales growth and education of convenience store operators and consumers.
At this point, Rich Doyle — the co-founder of Boston’s Harpoon Brewery — could probably spend an entire day sharing business lessons from the past 27 years in the beer industry. But at yesterday’s Beer Marketer’s INSIGHTS conference in New York City, Doyle needed less than 30-minutes to provide the 200 or so beer executives… Read more »
Nearly one year after it acquired Chesapeake, Virginia-based Chesbay Distributing Company and Chicago-based Windy City Distribution, Reyes Beverage Group has announced it will make yet another purchase, this time in Southern California. The company plans to purchase Allied Beverages Inc., a wholesaler located in Sylmar, Calif. selling about 12.6 million cases annually.
Sex sells. There’s no secret in that. The titans of the beer industry know this, often pairing their mass-produced brews with beautiful women on your television screen. As those mammoth companies try to creep into craft territory, smaller breweries — which fit the accepted definition of being craft — try and barricade the door.
Exemplifying its “slow and steady” motto when it comes to growth, the distribution footprint of Odell Brewing Co. has come to encompass only 10 markets, including its home base in Colorado, over the past 24 years. Now two years removed from its last distribution expansion, Odell is ready to enter Texas, per an agreement with… Read more »
On Wednesday, Craft Brew Alliance — makers of Widmer Brothers, Redhook, Kona, Omission and Square Mile Cider — reported record third quarter depletion growth of 14 percent compared to last year. During an earnings call on Thursday, CBA attributed the positive growth trends to its national portfolio strategy of offering retailers and customers a variety… Read more »
