Since its debut in 2016, New Belgium Brewing’s Voodoo Ranger line has become a growth engine for the Fort Collins, Colorado-headquartered craft brewery. The IPA brand, fronted by a snarky, skeletal “spokescreature,” came at just the right time. Sales of New Belgium’s Ranger IPA were down 50% and the team decided the brand wasn’t salvageable.
“We needed something fresh; we needed something more relevant to the IPA category,” CEO Steve Fechheimer said during the Brewbound Live business conference earlier this month. “It was time to take a risk.”
Leaders of four emerging “beyond beer” brands shared their strategies for differentiating in an increasingly crowded field during the annual Brewbound Live business conference, which took place virtually earlier this month due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s cancellation of in-person events. “Your product has to be amazing,” canned cocktail producer Five Drinks co-founder and CEO Felipe Szpigel said during the discussion.
Federal excise tax cuts for brewers and importers have finally been made permanent. After nearly a week of uncertainty, President Donald Trump on Sunday signed into law the $900 billion economic relief package and $1.4 trillion government funding bill Congress passed last week.
Reyes Beer Division is expanding its Southern California operations with plans to add two new warehouses for its Gate City Beverage and Harbor Distributing subsidiaries.
U.S. brewers shipped 12.3 million barrels of beer in November 2020, a decline of 0.8% (or 96,000 fewer barrels than in 2019), according to domestic tax paid estimates from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) shared by the Beer Institute (BI).
Permanent excise tax cuts for brewers and importers was just a signature away. However, getting pen to paper on the $900 billion economic relief package and a $1.4 trillion government funding bill passed by Congress is now in question after President Donald Trump unexpectedly pushed back against the measures.
After a tumultuous year, the beer industry is expected to finish 2020 down by 0.5% in volume, according to National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) chief economist Lester Jones. “Despite losing all this keg volume and all this on-premise, having 20% of the on-premise market shut down basically for a certain period of time, having fewer establishments, fewer occasions, the beer market in total is going to look a lot like it has in previous years,” Jones said. “It just means a whole bunch of beer got shifted around.”
The Atlanta Hawks have been named Anheuser-Busch InBev’s “NBA Partner of the Year,” team executives tell Brewbound. The difference maker for the Hawks: an in-arena activation with rap superstar Big Boi, who was featured on limited edition 25 oz. Budweiser cans sold within the Atlanta market and at the team’s home arena, State Farm Arena.
A permanent reduction in the federal excise tax for alcohol producers and importers is a signature away. The U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate have both signed off on the $900 billion economic relief package, which includes language from the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA), as well as additional Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding for small businesses, among other measures.
The temporary federal excise tax cuts enjoyed by brewers and importers over the last three years are on the verge of being made permanent. Congress has included language from the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA) in the $900 billion COVID-19 relief package that is expected to pass in the coming days.
Chicago’s Revolution Brewing has promoted Doug Veliky to chief strategy officer. In his new role, Veliky will be tasked with leading the finance and marketing divisions of the company, as well as helping set the overall strategic direction of the craft brewery.
Alcohol distributors are dubious regarding Bang Energy’s ability to rebound from its messy, still-unfurling divorce with PepsiCo, according to a survey by Goldman Sachs Equity Research.
Brooklyn Brewery co-founder Steve Hindy, one of the famed “Class of ’88” pioneers of the craft brewing movement, has announced his retirement, effective December 31.
The California Craft Brewers Association (CCBA) has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) director Sandra Shewry alleging that the state has infringed upon the constitutional rights and denied the state’s beer manufacturers equal protection by requiring them to serve a meal to guests in order to operate their tasting rooms while not imposing the same restrictions upon the state’s winemakers.
