Stone Brewing’s 2020 CEO search didn’t take a year to complete. In fact, it took less than a month.
The Escondido, California-headquartered craft brewery announced today the hiring of former Lagunitas Brewing CEO Maria Stipp as its next CEO.
“We couldn’t be happier to announce that we have completed our search for a new CEO,” co-founder Steve Wagner wrote in an email to employees obtained by Brewbound. “Today we’re announcing the hire of Maria Stipp to position of CEO!”
Stone’s former CEO, Dominic Engels, stepped down on August 4, and Wagner filled in as interim CEO. Stipp’s first day on the job will be September 14.
Wagner and Stone co-founder Greg Koch also announced Stipp’s hiring to consumers in a video posted to YouTube.
In the video, Stipp said she is “thrilled to be a part of team Stone.” She said her primary job will be to release “the most quality beer out there.”
Stipp spent five years at the helm of Lagunitas before departing in late February. At Lagunitas, Stipp was the brewery’s first CEO, working in tandem with founder Tony Magee, her “fourth consecutive founder working relationship,” according to the bio shared by Stone.
During Stipp’s tenure, Lagunitas doubled in size and was acquired by Heineken N.V. in two different transactions, the first of which was estimated to be worth $500 million. Lagunitas has produced more than 1 million barrels of beer in each of the last two years, making it the second largest non-BA-defined craft beer brand, behind Molson Coors’ Blue Moon.
Her career also includes stints at ecoATM, Activision, Miller Brewing Company and Kellogs, and she holds seats on the boards of directors at Siete Foods and California Olive Ranch. In addition to her role as CEO, Stipp will join Stone’s board of directors.
“The best part is that she loves our Stone Brewing gargoyle … protecting high quality beers, need we say more?” Wagner wrote.
Stone was the ninth largest craft brewery by volume in 2019, according to the Brewers Association. The company’s volume declined 1% last year, to an estimated 395,000 barrels, following a peak of 400,000 barrels in 2018.
In a year in which most large brewery’s off-premise dollar sales have exploded, Stone is the only brand in which dollar sales are roughly flat year-over-year. Year-to-date through August 9, dollar sales of Stone products are up 0.7%, to nearly $46.9 million, according to market research firm IRI. The company’s trends, however, have improved over the last four weeks, growing dollar sales 6.4%.
The company’s flagship Stone IPA has also fallen outside of IRI’s top 30 craft brands after last registering in mid-May. Year-to-date through May 17, Stone IPA’s sales were down 13.8%, more than $1 million less than the same time in 2019.
Stone’s business ventures include Stone Distributing, which distributes craft beer to a territory that stretches from Isla Vista, California, down to the border of Mexico and as far east as Imperial County. Stone Distributing began selling affiliate brands in 1999.
Stone also operates Stone World Bistro and Gardens in Escondido and Liberty Station, and taprooms in Napa, Oceanside, Pasadena and three additional taprooms in San Diego, including at San Diego International Airport, and one in Richmond, Virginia, where it also operates a production facility.