As 2022 nears a close, middle tier consolidation has yet to slow down. The latest deal involves self-described “consolidator of beverage alcohol distributors” Keg 1 and its Keg 1 River City LLC subsidiary striking a deal to acquire River City Distributing Company in Louisville, Kentucky.
Several big craft beer deals have gone down in 2022, from the sale of Stone Brewing to Sapporo, to Tilray’s recent acquisition of Montauk Brewing. Those transactions have one thing in common: investment bank Arlington Capital Advisors. Arlington director Ryan Lake broke down the state of beverage alcohol M&A during the Brewbound Live business conference.
Opening a brewery in any year is a challenge. In 2022, amid inflation, rising cost of goods and labor shortages, what’s it like to try to move from brewery-in-planning to open with a full taproom? Sarah Real and Mike Dell’Aquila, the co-founders of Hot Plate Brewing, share their experience.
U.S. craft breweries saw a “varied recovery” in 2022, with volume returning to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, but not all channels bouncing back and margins tightening, according to the Brewers Association’s (BA) annual Year in Beer report.
A judge has granted Pullayup, Washington-headquartered Olympic Eagle Distributing a preliminary injunction against Constellation Brands’ termination in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
Lagunitas will close its Seattle taproom next month, which was “not a decision we took lightly,” the Heineken-owned craft brewery said. Cloverdale, California-headquartered Bear Republic brewing shuttered its remaining taproom for the winter on December 11, and plans to reopen in the spring. Portland, Oregon-based Sasquatch Brewery announced last month it will halt beer- and cider-making operations, but its pub will remain in business.
Artisanal Brewing Ventures (ABV) has restructured its sales force, cutting “a handful” of sales roles, in order to better focus the company’s efforts on off-premise retailers.
The Consumer Price Index for beer at-home increased +7.7% in November 2022 compared to a year ago, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Notably, the CPI for beer at-home is now outpacing the CPI for all products.
Inflation and other economic factors may be the talk of the country, but they’re not necessarily what craft brewers should be focusing on, Brewers Association (BA) chief economist Bart Watson shared during Brewbound Live last month in Santa Monica, California.
An LLC led by the former president and CEO of Pittsburgh Brewing has acquired Weyerbacher Brewing following the Easton, Pennsylvania-based craft brewery’s second bankruptcy case, according to LehighValleyLive.com.
It’s hard to believe it’s only been nine days since the 2022 Brewbound Live business conference wrapped up. Months of planning, speaker wrangling and preparation finally turned into two days of business chats, networking and parties. Now that Jess Infante, Zoe Licata and I have had time to decompress, our coverage is beginning to roll out on Brewbound.com.
The beer category’s “level set” expected at the start of 2022 never materialized, and the industry now needs to look to the future and stop benchmarking against the last couple years, Mary Guiver, global principal category merchant for beer at Whole Foods, shared last week during the Brewbound Live business conference in Santa Monica, California.
Consumer trends of premiumization, convenience, flavor, and health and wellness continue to drive shopping behavior in both the on- and off-premise channels, experts from NielsenIQ reported during a webinar this week.
Jet lagged but (mostly) unbroken, the Brewbound team regrouped following the Brewbound Live business conference to recap the event. Jess, Zoe and Justin share their favorite parts of the event and recount the latest news stories.
