Adam Beauchamp was named CEO of Creature Comforts last week, a decade after helping found the Athens, Georgia-based craft brewery.
Creature Comforts’ succession plan was revealed on Friday, with co-founder and CEO Chris Herron stepping aside, although remaining in an advisory role through the transition.
“It is all positive on my end and something we are all feeling good about,” Herron told Brewbound.
He added that there’s no news on his next chapter yet.
“It has been an incredible 10 years,” Herron wrote. “I am very excited for Adam and to see where his leadership takes Creature over the next 10 years.”
The next decade starts now with a strategy focused on being “great and growing,” Beauchamp said in an interview with Brewbound about an hour after the announcement.
“They fuel each other; they have tension on each other,” he said. “So every dollar can either go to being a great company or being a growing company. And the ways that we’re attempting to be great are by putting our people first, by impacting the communities that we operate in, by embracing sustainability.
“With me coming in and Chris outgoing, I want to make sure everybody understands that our commitment to be a force for good in the world and then the communities that we operate as unwavering.”
That includes the Get Comfortable philanthropic program, which will focus on lifting the third-grade literacy rate from 20% to 60% by 2027, which Beauchamp called “the greatest need in our community.”
Beauchamp discussed his plans for the brewery moving forward, its growth drivers and opportunities ahead and how he is approaching its workforce following a failed union vote last year. Here are excerpts of the conversation..
You just made the announcement of the CEO change. How did that go over with the staff?
Beauchamp: It was awesome. I’ve been here since Day One. I mentored and trained most of these people.
We have a 54-person production team, so the bulk of the audience. I know everybody, but I know a lot of them very deeply and those production folks were very excited to have a beer person in the seat.
But I got to have a meeting after I gave the speech with all the managers and that was the thing that really got me because people from all across functions were sharing some really emotional and meaningful things with me about how excited they are and what we’re going to do together. This vision that we’ve cast, as a company that’s going to continue to be great and growing, is going to live out our purpose and foster human connection and continue to create industry-leading beverages and experiences. So I’m very happy today.
What is your vision for the brewery?
Beauchamp: I bring different strengths to this role, for sure. I don’t want to make any drastic changes. We’re on an amazing course. This company is doing better than ever. We’re really, right now, in lockstep.
So we’re gonna keep making industry-leading beverages. We’re going to keep making amazing experiences for people. We’re going to do more for our communities. I’m not going to flip the script, because it’s the best script I’ve ever seen.
This company, it means so much to me. It’s in my DNA. I feel like I’m the one to do this job because I’ve been a part of this longer than anybody that’s here. And I know what needs to be done, and I know I’ve got the people to do it. We’re on the right track, and this is just going to keep on.
What’s the biggest opportunity you see ahead for Creature Comforts?
Beauchamp: We’re a very, very ambitious company. We think that we’ve got a formula that people connect with. We deliver extremely high-quality beer, and it makes a difference for us that that happens every single time. We think the customer experience is the most critical thing that we can possibly do, and we’re going to do more of that.
If we keep our quality up, if we keep improving the communities that we operate in, if we keep embracing sustainability, if we continue to perhaps plant taprooms or even look beyond beer – none of that is is cemented yet – but I wouldn’t be surprised if you see this company develop into more than it is now.
We don’t aspire to geographic expansion. I’m not going to be in 48 or 50 states in a couple of years, but we have measured, intentional and sustainable growth that we do responsibly. We’ve always been an extremely financially responsible company. We take measured risks, we grow, and we’re going to continue to grow because we’re doing what people want.
We believe that we steward the dollars better than our competitors, in many cases, because we give back in droves, and we create amazing jobs for people, improve our communities. We’re doing better on sustainability. And I just want to keep going.
How many states are you in?
Beauchamp: We’re in three here in the Southeast. So we cover the entire footprint of Georgia. We now recently covered the entire footprint of Tennessee, as well as South Carolina. And we’ve got our location in Los Angeles, that’s been open since October and available in the Los Angeles area currently.
As far as products go, what’s driving the business?
Beauchamp: Core is strong, which is sort of the craft story that I know you’re familiar with. We have an unbelievable brand in Tropicalia [juicy IPA] that continues to grow year-over-year in our home market and is growing in our fledgling markets and is making an impact in California.
Classic City Lager is not a new beer, but is a beer that is also producing a lot of growth. Lagers are having a moment, and ours is no exception. We are experiencing +20% year-over-year growth in Classic City Lager, and we’re going into 19.2 oz. with both those brands, taking advantage of convenience channels that we haven’t historically had good weighted distribution in before that we’re seeing really excellent growth on.
Those are the big two. Our big three right now is the new seasonal lineup. So we released a beer called Spring this past spring that is a Belgian-style witbier that people really connected well with. And then Summer has just hit the shelves here in Georgia, and it is over-performing beyond our wildest dreams. It is a lemon shandy that our team did an amazing job formulating. We are incredibly proud of just the singing lemon flavored and really balanced sour-sweet, just super refreshing beer. The first two in a true seasonal lineup, the first time we’ve done that. So we will have a Fall and a Winter, to be announced, but that’s our other big bet this year. So far, so good.
What percentage or how many barrels is Tropicalia of the business?
Beauchamp: So that’s in the low 60s for Georgia. It’s heavy. That’s the brand that built this brewery and the other one across town. It’s my favorite beer.
The press release mentioned Chris is staying on through the transition in an advisory role. Is he stepping away from the business after that transition period? Or will he have any touch points with the business going forward?
Beauchamp: Chris is like a brother to me. He will always be a part of Creature Comforts. After 10 years, you get your permanent Creature Comforts card here.
As I’m stepping in, we want to make sure that transition is smooth and that I’ve got access to him in a formal way, but we’re not going to be able to keep him away.
What’s the biggest challenge you see on the horizon for Creature Comforts?
Beauchamp: We’ve grown every year. In 2020, we still grew +8%. Really proud of that. We did a lot during those years to maintain that, and it was a time where we’re able to get share. We found ourselves in a fortunate place already being drawn into sets here. And so it has been good.
The challenges that I see are we got shrinking shelf space, that’s real for a lot of our products. We’re experiencing maybe some choice fatigue, and we’re seeing some SKUs getting cut out of sets. Everybody’s seeing that. We’re fortunate to have the No. 1 style in most categories that we play in our brands at a large scale. We say we’re either in it to win it, or we’re not going to play the game. So if we’re seeing a decline in our brands, we relegate.
Our challenge is going to be to continue to relegate brands that consumers are no longer connected with and to innovate with brands that people are connecting with because we are seeing a change in consumer preference.
And we’re extremely fortunate to have some brands that have not turned over. Tropicalia is a 10-year-old brand that shows incredible strength that I think is just a classic. I think it’s got 20 more years of growth, honestly, in Georgia. But we’re going to have to look hard at things that aren’t working. And we’re going to have to come up with new things that are.
We want to connect with people. And so if people are connecting with what we’re doing, we need to do something else. But that hasn’t been our story. Our story has been a story of human connection. And that’s what I really hope to continue.
Last year, the Brewers Union of Georgia did the election to formalize a union and that vote failed. How do you unify that workforce after something that had appeared to be contentious at times?
Beauchamp: I walked into work with a new employee yesterday. It’s been a big week. A lot racing through my head, but a new lab tech that just came out of college and got her first job here. And I always ask people, “What strikes you? How are you liking this?” And she said she couldn’t believe how happy everybody is here. That was what struck her.
She went on about having worked in various labs at her college and how she never expected to get into the workforce and enjoy, and people generally seem fulfilled. I’ve heard that over and over from people. I think we’re on the other side of that, for the most part. We’ve come out really strong. And we’re looking to listen, we’re looking to respond, and we’re looking to be better.
So do you feel like there’s still some work to do?
Beauchamp: In terms of being better for our employees? Everybody can always be better. And we are always improving ourselves.
Last year, you also announced a huge partnership with the University of Georgia Athletics as the official craft beer and taproom. What’s the potential that you see for a deal like that?
Beauchamp: It was huge last year. It pushed our brand Classic City Lager to that +20% growth. Being the official taproom of UG Athletics was a good shot in the arm for this.
This year, we’re going to have some new opportunities, being able to sell our beer in places that we haven’t before. There’s a lot of potential for a partnership like that.
We’ve got some exciting stuff coming with regard to some new brands, so keep your eyes peeled for those.