New Holland Brewing announced last week that it would begin shipping beer to a network of wholesalers in Florida, Maine and New Hampshire while also expanding its coverage in upstate New York as part of a sales and distribution partnership inked last year with Pabst Brewing Company.
The executive shuffle at Pabst Brewing Company continued on Thursday, as the company announced the appointment of a new chief marketing officer to oversee its entire portfolio of heritage, craft, import, cider and flavored malt beverage brands. Matt Bruhn, who most recently served as the CMO for GWA Group Limited, an Australian supplier of building fixtures and fittings, will formally take over as the CMO of Pabst on October 2, according to a press release.
Boston-based alcohol e-commerce company Drizly has added Bill Simon, the former CEO of Walmart’s U.S. business, to its board of directors. In a press release, Drizly said Simon’s time spent leading Walmart’s U.S. operations, as well as a stint with Diageo Plc, where he helped develop Smirnoff Ice, would aid the company as it looks to grow within an off-premise alcohol retail industry worth approximately $130 billion.
A growing number of beer companies are turning to digital rebate programs to boost volume sales and gain consumer insights as competition for off-premise business intensifies amongst breweries. The most well-known smartphone-enabled rebate program for alcoholic beverage manufacturers is run by Colorado-headquartered Ibotta, Inc.
In just four years, the economic impact of small and independent U.S. craft brewers has doubled, according to an updated report issued by industry trade group the Brewers Association on Tuesday. The study, which was based on two national surveys as well as other government and market data, found that the U.S. craft brewing industry, as defined by the BA, contributed $67.8 billion to the U.S. economy in 2016.
Anheuser-Busch InBev, via its High End craft and import division, has acquired the remainder of Michigan’s Virtue Cider, the company announced today. Greg Hall, the former brewmaster at Goose Island, which is also owned by A-B InBev, launched Virtue Cider with partner Stephen Schmakel and 31 investors in 2011 after his father, John Hall, sold Goose Island to the world’s largest beer company for $38.8 million.
The ninth installment of the Startup Brewery Challenge, sponsored by Craft Brew Alliance, will take place during the Brewbound Session on November 29 in Santa Monica, Calif. The one-of-a-kind business pitch competition gives brewery entrepreneurs an opportunity to present their beers and business plans to a panel of respected industry judges, while competing for a chance to win $5,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Portland, Oregon.
In this week’s edition of Last Call: ZX Ventures acquires Australian craft brewery 4 Pines; the TTB launches another pay-to-play investigation; Amazon expands alcoholic beverage delivery; and more news from the week.
In addition to the $2 billion it will spend on capital expenditure projects in the U.S. over the next four years, Anheuser-Busch InBev, via its Labatt Breweries subsidiary, plans to spend $460 million to improve operations at its six Canadian breweries. Following the investments, which are slated to conclude in 2020, Labatt Breweries will have spent more than $1 billion over a nine-year period, the company said in a press release.
In this edition of People Moves, Modern Times’ head brewer departs for Hong Kong, Fifty West hires the owner of Blank Slate and more.
Fighting an ugly court case, but in charge of distributing more than a half-million cases of beer annually, Northern Nevada-based beer wholesaler Crown Beverages ceased operations on June 30, Brewbound has learned. Many of the beer brands Crown once distributed have found a new route to market via competing wholesalers that deliver to retailers in the area.
A new distribution company with ties to a small Virginia craft brewery is set to launch in the Southwestern part of the state. Saint X LLC — which aims to provide an alternative route to market for small craft brewers — has set up shop in a 10,000 sq. ft. warehouse located near recently launched Beale’s Brewery in Bedford, Va.
In the latest Distribution Roundup: Stone fills out its nationwide footprint; Knee Deep adds six states; Coppertail Brewing adds 20 counties in northern Florida; and more.
The founders of a music-focused production company that has worked with clients from Converse to Kanye West are getting into the craft beer business. Brent Nichols, Daron Hollowell and Kelcie Jadkowski of Ring the Alarm — which composes and licenses music for TV, movies and advertising campaigns — have launched 24 Hour Beer, a session-strength beer company aiming to become the “the anti-craft, craft beer.”
