Nearly two years after the Department of Justice (DOJ) signed off on Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (ABI) $100 billion takeover of SABMiller, the government agency still has not completed its review of the merger. The DOJ and ABI filed a joint motion on March 15 asking U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan to approve the “proposed final judgment.” However, several groups have objected to the judgment, as it is currently written, and are now seeking a hearing in order to resolve anti-competitive concerns.
Earlier this month, Brewers Association CEO Bob Pease took the stage at the 2018 Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) in Nashville, Tennessee, and extolled the benefits of direct-to-consumer sales. Calling breweries with the ability to sell beer across the bar or to-go “ground zero for bringing new drinkers into the category,” Pease made his case for the continued expansion of the beer category via own-premise sales.
In a move that underscores just how quickly the craft beer segment has evolved, Shmaltz Brewing Company today announced plans to vacate an upstate New York brewing facility that it built just five years ago. The company — which launched in 1996 as a contract-brewed, Jewish-themed craft brand – has sold its brewery equipment assets to Queens-based Singlecut Beersmiths for an undisclosed sum.
In the continued fallout of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on foreign aluminum and steel, the Beer Institute (BI) is now calling on the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate anticompetitive activity in the aluminum market.
Want to know what keeps craft brewers up at night? Here’s the short list: Taking care of employees, staying relevant, fighting for shelf space, differentiating brands in the marketplace, creating value for wholesalers and retailers, competing against taproom-focused breweries as well as corporately held brands, and the continued flood of new category entrants.
In this week’s edition of Last Call: International M&A heats up with Heineken, Pernod and Constellation; Rebecca Spicer to depart the NBWA; Michigan Senators vote to outlaw marijuana-infused alcoholic drinks; Sonoma County tallies the economic impact of Pliny the Younger; and more.
Less than a year after it was sold to a private equity firm, Minnesota-based Cold Spring Brewing Company is now on the buy side of a deal. Brynwood Partners, a Connecticut-based private equity firm with existing investments in a variety of food and beverage companies, yesterday announced that Cold Spring Brewing had purchased Carolina Beverage Group.
Chicago-based e-commerce marketplace Provi today announced the completion of a $3.5 million funding round. Provi, which aggregates distributor inventories and serves as a one-stop shop for retailers to search and place alcohol orders, has now raised $5 million via two funding rounds with an investor list that includes Hyde Park Angels, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Ludlow Ventures, and Sandalphon Capital, among others.
Firestone Walker has 805. New Belgium has Dayblazer. Founders has Solid Gold. Boston Beer has Sam ’76 and Sierra Nevada has BFD (Beer For Drinking). The common thread linking each of those brands? They’re all less than 5 percent ABV and marketed to consumers as “drinkable,” “crushable,” “light,” or “easygoing.”
During the 2018 Craft Brewers Conference (CBC), held earlier this month in Nashville, Tennessee, Brewers Association (BA) leaders dedicated a significant amount of time and energy to advocating for the increased adoption of its independent craft brewer seal.
A lawsuit brought by two North Carolina breweries that challenges the constitutionality of the state’s distribution laws is inching toward a trial. Last Thursday, Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour denied the state’s motions to dismiss the case or send it to a three-judge panel. A trial date has not been set.
Molson Coors Brewing Co. chairman Pete Coors is grabbing headlines for the second consecutive week. Last Monday, Coors issued an “open letter” to the Brewers Association, chastising the trade group’s leaders over negative comments made about “big beer” during the annual Craft Brewers Conference. Now, Coors has scored himself an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, and he’s turned his focus toward President Donald Trump and a recently imposed 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum.
When John McDonald founded Boulevard Brewing Company in 1989, he never envisioned that the company would grow to 178,000 barrels and sell beer in 40 states. You can listen to McDonald discuss these topics, and more, on episode 111 of Taste Radio.
Ninkasi Brewing co-founder Nikos Ridge is back at the helm as CEO of the Eugene, Oregon-based craft brewery after just one year away from the position. In a press release issued last Friday, the company said Cheryl Collins, who took over as CEO of the company last May, would step down from the post on June 18.
