Sierra Nevada CEO Pryce Greenow began his remarks to wholesalers last week acknowledging that craft beer is not short on challenges, including a “cash-constrained consumer,” category price increases, trends in moderation and bev-alc abstinence “becoming more meaningful,” and “a whole host of substitute products” entering the market.
However, Sierra Nevada believes it has “a duty” to advocate for craft beer and believes the segment can return to growth, Greenow said.
Sierra Nevada hosted wholesaler partners last week at the company’s taproom in Mills River, North Carolina. The event, along with the company’s sales meeting the previous week in Chico, California, was one of Greenow’s first opportunities to speak in front of Sierra Nevada’s partners since becoming CEO earlier this year.
“I have a duty to the [brewery’s founding] family to really write the next chapters, which can be even more successful, more glorious, than the past of Sierra Nevada, which is an incredibly rich history,” Greenow said.
Along with Greenow, Sierra Nevada has made several other leadership changes recently, including promoting Ellie Preslar to CCO. Additionally, the company hired a new chief operations officer this month, leadership teased at the event.
Greenow, who comes from the spirits industry, warned that it’s “always dangerous” to look only at “category averages” when making business decisions, pointing instead to Sierra Nevada’s recent performance trends.
Top 10 craft collectively recorded a -0.6% decline in dollar sales in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels year-to-date (ending July 20) and -1.3% decline in the last four weeks. Meanwhile, Sierra Nevada dollar sales increased +3.1% YTD and +5.1% in the last four weeks.
“Sierra Nevada has a duty to do, as I have a duty to the family, to advocate for craft,” Greenow said. “And there are not many brands at the moment who are leading with craft beer at the lead of their portfolio, at the scale that we can do at Sierra Nevada.
“We believe, confidently, there are exciting times ahead,” he continued. “There are a couple of years that may be tough as we go through it, but … this is now the time to invest.”
“We can’t forget that it [craft] is still very meaningful to all of our businesses,” Preslar added in her own remarks. “It’s very meaningful to the consumers and drinkers that we serve despite the challenging environment we find ourselves in today.”
Sierra Nevada leadership repeatedly assured wholesale partners that “beer-flavored beer” will continue to lead the company and its strategy, including its 2025 innovation plans.
“A lot of people are taking their focus away from their brewing backgrounds and making them more beverage-based companies,” chief brewing officer Brian Grossman said in his opening remarks. “We’re not there, yet. We still have a lot of runway to do with beer.”
“We are brewers and making beer will always be at the core of what we do in Sierra Nevada,” founder Ken Grossman added. “That’s not to say we won’t innovate, because we have a lot of projects and plans to innovate, but beer will always be the core of our business.”
While beer is leading the way, Sierra Nevada has invested in expanding its capabilities, including the creation of its CanDo Innovation Center in Chico, which has become the headquarters for beyond beer innovation for both Sierra Nevada and its contract brewing partners.
The facility includes pasteurization equipment, allowing Sierra Nevada to launch its Trail Pass non-alcoholic (NA) beer brand earlier this year, as well as digital can printing equipment for limited printed can runs. The facility also has spirits tanks. However, they are not in use and there are no immediate plans to use them.
“We’re trying to cover all of our bases and give us the complete flexibility to produce pretty much anything we want down the road,” Ken Grossman said.
Sierra Nevada has also invested in new automated variety pack lines at both its Chico and Mills River locations, allowing the company to do in one day what used to take one week manually, Brian Grossman added.
Recommitting to Pale Ale
Although Sierra Nevada has several new products coming in 2025, the majority of the company’s priorities for the next year center on existing brands, including reigniting its flagship Pale Ale.
2025 will be the 45th anniversary of both Sierra Nevada and its Pale Ale brand. While Sierra Nevada is growing overall, Pale Ale has struggled. YTD through July 13, Pale Ale dollar sales have declined -2.7% and volume -6.9% in NIQ-tracked off-premise channels. Still, the brand is the fifth-largest craft brand in Circana-tracked off-premise channels, behind Sierra Nevada’s own Hazy Little Thing IPA.
To revitalize Pale Ale, Sierra Nevada plans to “give a reason for a new conversation” around the brand, without changing the liquid,” VP of marketing Lesley Albright told wholesaler partners. Pale Ale’s recipe is what got Sierra Nevada to the place it is now and the company has no plans of abandoning it, leadership emphasized.
Sierra Nevada also has a new partnership for Pale Ale in the works that it shared with wholesalers, but will announce to the public later this year.
Sierra Nevada’s focus on Pale Ale drew the most positive responses from wholesalers, Preslar told Brewbound in an interview following last week’s event. Preslar said she was pleasantly surprised by responses, given that what was shared about the company’s plans for the brand was just a small step, and Sierra Nevada has further plans it has yet to share.
“It feels like it’s just the tip of what we plan to do with Pale over the next number of years to really bring awareness back to the brand, and a little bit of energy,” Preslar said.
Recommitting to Pale Ale is also part of Sierra Nevada’s goal of honoring the brewery’s legacy and connection to community, which will lead its messaging to consumers.
“Brian [Grossman] used to say we’re the best story never told,” Greenow told Brewbound. “That drives me crazy. If that’s still true in five years’ time, then I failed.”
2025 Objectives and Incentives
Other objectives for Sierra Nevada in the near term include:
- Gain “sustainable” distribution for Pale Ale and Hazy Little Thing;
- At least +50% growth for Hazy Little Thing draft in Q1;
- Double Hazy Little Thing tap handles by 2026;
- Grow Hazy Little Thing’s convenience sales, including a +38% growth target in c-store chains, and a +30% growth target in independent c-stores;
- Add more than 250,000 incremental cases to its business in 2025.
To help achieve these goals, Sierra Nevada has launched its first ever national incentive program for wholesaler partners, titled “Move Mountains.” The company is encouraging wholesalers to seed distribution of brands early in 2025 to help boost growth trends, and have incentivized reaching targets, including exclusive gear and prizes, payouts and trips to the brewery.
The company is also investing $1.25 million in its objectives, to show wholesalers that it is committed to supporting its partnerships and growth goals, Preslar said.
Additionally, Sierra has adjusted its media and trade strategy to have a more narrow target audience and more diverse channel mix, including new investment in retail and digital media, Preslar shared.
The company is leading its marketing efforts with a “quarterly cadence,” with the theme of a “Year of Crafted Moments:”
- “Crafted for Escape” (January-March) will celebrate consumers planning for their future summer escapes, and will focus on spring seasonals, as well as Hazy Little Thing and Pale Ale;
- “Crafted to Explore” (May-August) will celebrate getting outdoors, with Hazy Little Thing and Pale Ale as the top priorities, boosted by collaborations with new and existing partners, such as Yeti;
- “Crafted for the Backyard” (September-October) will portray Hazy Little Thing and Pale Ale as the drinks of choice for game days and grilling;
- “Crafted Celebration” (mid October-December) will mark the annual return of Celebration Ale, with more emphasis on owning holiday occasions.