Pabst Names Paul Chibe as CEO

Pabst Brewing Company has tapped Anheuser-Busch InBev alum Paul Chibe to succeed Eugene Kashper as CEO.

Kashper, who acquired Pabst with TSG Consumer Partners in 2014, will remain with the company as chairman of the board of directors.

“Paul has an incredible knack for building great teams with a winning culture, and a track record of growing iconic brands and executing impactful innovation,” Kashper said in a press release. “Pabst achieved healthy top-line growth in 2021 and has many promising opportunities on the horizon. The board is confident that Paul is the right leader for this next chapter of the company’s evolution, and we look forward to partnering with Paul to capitalize on our strong foundation and achieve great things together.”

Chibe, whose position at Pabst will begin on December 1, most recently served as global president of sugar confectionary at Ferrero Group, the maker of Ferrero Rocher, Tic Tac, and Nutella. For most of Chibe’s six-and-a-half year tenure at Ferrero, he served as president and CEO of the company’s North American operations.

Before joining Ferrero, Chibe spent nearly three years as U.S. chief marketing officer for Anheuser-Busch InBev from May 2011 to February 2014, according to his LinkedIn profile. In that role, Chibe oversaw the launch of the Bud Light Ritas and Platinum brand families, as well as the company’s Made in America concert series.

“Pabst is an iconic company with deep roots in communities across the United States. I’m honored to work alongside Eugene and the rest of the hard-working and accomplished team,” Chibe said in the release. “I have long admired the company and have a sincere connection to many of its brands.

“Pabst is a company with huge unrealized potential, and now is an exciting and pivotal time in the company’s history,” he continued. “We will unlock the opportunity to build a great future for Pabst through innovation and growth.”

In addition to serving as Pabst chairman, Kashper is also the chairman of Blue Ribbon Partners, which owns Pabst Brewing Company and a significant ownership interest in City Brewing, the country’s largest beverage alcohol co-packer. In a deal that was announced in March, the consortium of investors that owns City acquired the Irwindale Brew Yard from Pabst (which had acquired it from Molson Coors in November 2020).

Former Pabst general manager Matt Bruhn departed the company in May after nearly four years.

Year-to-date through October 31, Pabst is the eighth-largest beer category vendor in off-premise retail dollar sales at multi-outlet food, mass retail and convenience stores tracked by market research firm IRI. Dollar sales of Pabst offerings have declined -9.5%, to $419.2 million, compared to the same period in 2020.

Dollar sales of its Pabst Blue Ribbon flagship have declined -9% year-to-date through October 31, slightly outpacing the company’s overall portfolio.

In addition to Pabst Blue Ribbon, the company’s offerings include legacy brands such as Stroh’s, Rainier, Olympia, National Bohemian, Heileman’s Old Style and Lone Star; and flavored malt beverage offerings from Not Your Father’s and Jack Daniel’s Country Cocktails. The company also has a sales and marketing partnership with New Holland for its Dragon’s Milk brand.