Sapporo-Stone has conducted a “small-scale reduction” in its workforce as the company continues to find the right balance for the combined operations of its Japanese import beer and California craft business.
In a statement shared with Brewbound, Sapporo-Stone CEO Zach Keeling said: “At Sapporo-Stone, we are continually evaluating our business to best create enduring success in the future. Despite positive momentum, we recognize challenges in the beer market and are taking action to further focus on our critical business priorities. As such, we reorganized some of our commercial resources to provide greater focus on the individual needs of the Sapporo and Stone brands.
“Changes are highly focused on structure and job function and include only a very small-scale reduction in roles. We have also added roles to both sales and marketing to strengthen the business. We believe these changes best set up our business for long-term success.”
Sapporo-Stone declined to share how many roles were affected, noting that “it’s a very small-scale reduction” and “with the addition of some roles, we’re netting close to zero reduction,” a spokesperson told Brewbound.
The latest moves follow a restructuring of the company’s team in late January, resulting in the elimination of 1% of all roles and 2% of total employees. The company also eliminated its e-commerce business, halting direct-to-consumer (DTC) shipping of beer and merchandise.
At the time of the January restructuring, Keeling shared a similar statement to the one above, noting that “despite positive momentum, we recognize challenges in the beer market and look to further increase alignment on critical strategic initiatives.”
Also in January, Sapporo-Stone ended all exports of Stone beers – a move announced in November 2024.
Sapporo-Stone, which was formed in 2022 with Sapporo’s acquisition of Stone, was not included in the Brewers Association’s (BA) 2024 production volume report from the May/June New Brewer Magazine. However, Sapporo-Stone ranked as the 14th-largest overall U.S. brewing company, sandwiched between Duvel Moortgat USA (647,000 barrels) and Mahou USA (437,000 barrels).
In 2023, the company was the ninth-largest craft brewery in the country, producing a combined 335,288 barrels of beer across Stone and San Francisco-based Anchor Brewing, which was acquired by billionaire Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya in mid-2024.
Sapporo-Stone’s dollar sales (-4.3%) and volume, measured in case sales (-3.2%), are both down single-digits in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels year-to-date (YTD), through May 17, according to data shared by 3 Tier Beverages. Trends have remained static in the last four weeks (L4W): dollar sales -4.5%, volume -4%.
The company’s declines have been driven by Stone, which recorded double-digit declines YTD (dollar sales -12.7%, volume -11%) and in the L4W (dollar sales -15.3%, volume -14.7%). The declines come as Stone has cut down its nationally distributed portfolio.
Meanwhile, Sapporo’s business is up double-digits YTD (dollar sales +14.5%, volume +12.9%), with growth accelerating in the L4W (dollar sales +18.1%, volume +16.9%).