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.
Nearly three years after being acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev, Los Angeles’ Golden Road Brewing is beginning to see the advantages of being owned by the world’s largest beer manufacturer. In the last six months, Golden Road has launched its flagship Wolf Pup Session IPA nationally, and opened a pair of satellite brewpubs in California. According to market research firm IRI Worldwide’s multi-outlet and convenience (MULC) universe of stores, sales of the company’s beer have increased 100 percent through April 29.
After releasing its first quarter earnings results on Wednesday, which were marked by a 4 percent decline in depletions, Craft Brew Alliance CEO Andy Thomas addressed the “relative turmoil within the marketplace” during a call with investors and analysts. “The trends are consistent and increasingly clear,” he said. “Consumers are changing how, where, and with what they socialize. And the impacts on our industry continued to be profound.”
In this week’s edition of Last Call: Another brewery files for bankruptcy; Stone seeks to dismiss MillerCoors’ counterclaims; Tree House and Jester King announce expansion plans; BrewDog and Terrapin announce new hires; and more.
The Beer Institute (BI) is forecasting U.S. beer shipments to decline between one and three percent in 2018, chief economist Michael Uhrich shared during the national trade association’s “State of the Industry” webinar today.
