PepsiCo Interested in More Alcoholic Bevs Beyond Hard MTN Dew
PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta was asked just one question about the carbonated soft drink maker’s plans in the beverage alcohol space, during the company’s Q1 2022 earnings call Tuesday.
Asked about the launch of Hard MTN Dew in partnership with Boston Beer Company, and the company’s longer-term plans in the category, Laguarta said PepsiCo is “testing and learning at a fast speed” and “Boston Beer is learning how to market and improve the products,” as well.
“We’re also learning about how to distribute and sell low-alcohol beverages, which obviously have a lot of restrictions at the state and even municipality level,” Laguarta said of PepsiCo’s Blue Cloud Distribution branch. “We’re having to train our people in the right way and so on. So there’s a lot of test and learning, very encouraging learnings actually as we see in the consumers.”
Hard MTN Dew is “generating a lot of excitement” and garnering “a lot of initial trial,” Laguarta said. The product was initially launched in Iowa, Tennessee and Florida, followed by Arkansa, Oklahoma and Minnesota. The brand is expected to be in 15 states by the end of summer.
“As always, in these circumstances, we have to wait and see repeats and see really where the business stabilizes,” Laguarta said. “But I would say, good learnings for the organization. It’s still very early in the process of building the infrastructure and the talent base and pretty good response from the consumer.”
During Boston Beer’s Q1 earnings call last week, CEO Dave Burwick said Hard MTN Dew has received “the highest trial I’ve ever seen, ever, ever,” with a 27% share of flavored malt beverages (FMBs) in off-premise channels.
PepsiCo’s interest in bev-alc won’t stop at Hard MTN Dew, Laguarta said. He said to look for the company to “create new exciting products that will go through this platform in the future.”
“[A]s we learn more about the consumer, together with our partners, we’ll be able to innovate meaningfully in this category,” he added. “But as I said, too early, too early yet to call it a huge success.”
Beer Institute: March 2022 Shipments +2.9%, to 15.2 Million Barrels
After eight months of declines, domestic tax paid shipments finally increased in March 2022, growing +2.9%, to 15.2 million barrels, according to the Beer Institute (BI), citing domestic tax paid estimates from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).
March 2022 gains took year-to-date shipments to -2.7%, with 38.6 million barrels of beer shipped. Nevertheless, year-over-year shipments for the first three months of 2022 are down 1.068 million barrels. Shipments for January 2022 (-6.2%) and February 2022 (-5.8%) were both in the red.
At this same point in 2021, U.S. brewers had shipped 39.668 million barrels of beer.
Speaking of 2021, domestic tax paid estimates for last year have been revised downward to 168,476,000 barrels, a decline of -0.7% ( a decline of 1,141,606 barrels) compared to 2020. Previous estimates for 2021 had shipments flat at -0.1%, with U.S. brewers shipping 169,154,000 barrels of beer. Estimates for both November and December 2021 were revised to -2% and -6%, respectively, after previously communicated estimates of +2.8% and -4%.
Meanwhile, 2020’s numbers were revised upward to 169,617,606 barrels of beer, an improvement of 229,915 barrels compared to previous estimates.
Stone appeals Sycamore Injunction
After being hit with a nationwide injunction on April 21 for its use of the phrase “Keep It Juicy” on packages of its Stone Hazy IPA, Stone filed an appeal the next day to the federal judge’s ruling that sided with Charlotte, North Carolina-based Sycamore Brewing.
Sycamore, which registered a trademark for the phrase “Keep It Juicy” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in August 2021, sued Stone for using the phrase on its packages of Stone Hazy IPA. A federal judge sided with Sycamore last week, granting a preliminary injunction but allowing Stone to sell the existing packages as long as the San Diego craft brewery covered up the “Keep It Juicy” phrase.
Stone, in a notice of compliance filed with the court on April 21, said it has sent labels with Stone Hazy IPA and the phrase “An Amazingly Hazy IPA” to its distributors and sales reps.
“Stone is otherwise working furiously to abide by the court’s order,” the company said. “Stone has already taken significant steps to ensure that the ‘Keep It Juicy’ phrase is removed from the marketing and packaging for Stone’s Hazy IPA.”
In the notice, Stone said it has removed the offending phrase from its website and social platforms, ceased manufacturing boxes with the phrase, designed and ordered new Stone Hazy IPA boxes from its packaging manufacturer without the phrase, and begun “the massive undertaking of using best efforts to place labels on any boxes that contain the phrase” that are in Stone’s possession or its more than 100 distributors or thousands of retailers nationwide.
The company said those efforts “continue to impose heavy cost and significant disruption to Stone’s” business but the company “is diligently undertaking them to comply with the court’s order.”
Stem Ciders Acquires Howdy Beer from The Post Brewing
Lafayette, Colorado-based Stem Ciders has acquired the Western-themed Howdy Beer brand from The Post Brewing Company in Colorado.
The Post will remain involved with the “Western Pilsner” brand as “a strategic partner,” according to a press release. The Post, which is operated by Big Red F Restaurant Group, launched in 2014.
Stem Ciders plans to expand distribution of Howdy this summer in Colorado, Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma.
“The partnership with Stem will allow Howdy to reach its brand and distribution potential,” Dave Query, founder of Big Red F Restaurant Group, said in the release. “They have a skilled sales team and a strong knowledge of the industry needed to launch a brand across several regions.”
Howdy isn’t the first beer brand from Stem Ciders, which formed a strategic partnership in February 2020 with Colorado contract brewery Sleeping Giant to manage the marketing and sales of Boulder Beer Company. Sleeping Giant will continue production of Howdy’s pilsners.
The Post will maintain the rest of its beer portfolio, while still featuring Howdy in its restaurants.
Ex-Boston Beer Supply Chain Leader Joins Zevia
Quincy Troupe, the former supply chain leader for Boston Beer, has joined zero sugar beverage maker Zevia as chief operating officer, the company announced this week.
Troupe, who exited Boston Beer on April 1, had served as VP of supply chain since February 2016.
Troupe’s first day at Zevia is June 13. He has served on the brand’s board of directors since June 2021 and will exit that role to take the COO role.
“It has been an immense privilege to serve on Zevia’s board over the last year, and I look forward to joining the management team,” Troupe said in the release. “I am proud to be part of a company that not only has a clear vision for growth, but also is driven by a mission to support the health of individuals and communities.”
Texas Craft Brewers Guild’s Grant Program Enters Year 2
For the second year, the Texas Craft Brewers Guild and Method Architecture have begun accepting grant applications from breweries in planning that would give them a one year membership to the trade association for the Lone Star State’s craft brewers.
“Breweries in planning have to prioritize every dollar as they get their projects going,” Meg Ellis, the guild’s membership and business development manager, said in a release. “So to benefit from guild membership in the crucial early phases and still be able to allocate funds toward hard costs like equipment orders and facilities improvements can have a huge impact down the road.”
The guild noted the barriers to entry in “the craft brewing industry are high, and continue to climb due to ongoing supply chain and logistics challenges that stated during the COVID-19 pandemic” and “people of color, women, non-binary individuals and entrepreneurs outside of metropolitan areas are know to experience barriers to credit, capital and other business supports that their white, urban counterparts might not.”
Benefits of a guild membership include access to recorded and live online educational resources, access to monthly member meetings and annual conferences, and a connection to more than 220 brewery owners statewide.
“There’s virtually no amount of research or reading that completely prepares a person to start a brewery, but having the ‘inside’ information available through other guild members can prove invaluable to anyone looking to open a brewery of their own,” Carl Roaches Jr., one of the owners of For the Culture Brewing and a 2021 grant recipient, said in the release.
In Year One, the guild received about 30 grant applications from Texas breweries in planning and awarded eight grants. Applications will be accepted through May 13, 2022. Grant awardees are expected to be announced in mid-July. Follow this link for more information.
NYC Brewers Guild Readmits NS Beer’s Membership
The New York City Brewers Guild voted last week to readmit Brooklyn-based NS Beer (also known as Non Sequitur Beer Project) after revoking the brewery’s membership last summer, guild leaders told Brewbound.
The revocation, which came after two women publicly accused co-founder Gage Siegel of sexual assault, was one of the first punitive measures a brewing trade organization has taken against one of its members since Brienne Allan (@ratmagnet) and @EmboldenActAdvance brought women’s stories of abuse and assault to the forefront of the craft beer industry last year.
Since then, NS Beer – a restyling of the company’s full name, introduced after the brewery laid down roots via a permanent home that opened earlier this month – has published a code of conduct to its website and inside its taproom, as well as set up a reporting platform through WeVow.
Siegel and co-founder Simone Schroeder have taken trainings on allyship, anti-harassment, and diversity, equity and inclusion theory hosted by the Brewers Association, Hollaback and Women of the Vine and Spirits. Under the company’s policy, all future hires will be required to do the same.
White Claw Launches ‘Bring the Wave’ Campaign
If Corona owns sunny and serene beach occasions in its advertising, Mark Anthony’s White Claw appears to be going in the opposite direction with its new ad campaign. The company launched “Bring the Wave” this week with a 60-second, black-and-white commercial portraying a ruined beach occasion for everyone but one surfer — Brazilian surfer Caio Vaz, who runs toward the apocalyptic-sized wave, board-in-hand, to tame it.
In a press release, the company said the wave is the best metaphor for the “optimistic thinking” behind the Claw. “White Claw champions pure optimism, inspired by those who take action to make a difference, even in the face of challenge.”