Anheuser-Busch InBev and Keurig Green Mountain have signed an agreement to enter into a research and development-driven joint venture that will be tasked with inventing an in-home alcohol drink system, the two companies announced today. Specific financial terms of the transaction, including ownership percentages, were not disclosed and the deal is expected to close during the first quarter.
Former New Belgium Brewing CEO Christine Perich has landed in the non-alcoholic beverage industry. After departing the Colorado-based craft beer company last October, Perich was today announced as the new chief executive officer of World Waters, maker of fast-growing high pressure processed juice brand WTRMLN WTR.
Constellation Brands’ run of double-digit revenue growth continued in the third quarter of fiscal 2017, with the company’s CEO, Rob Sands, crediting 16 percent growth across its beer brands as contributing to its overall 10 percent growth for the quarter.
Beginning Sunday, Goose Island will temporarily close its original Chicago brewpub on Clybourn Avenue to undergo a five-month renovation, according to a report from the Chicago Tribune.
To kick off 2017, we’ve released more than two hours of bonus footage from last month’s Brewbound Session, held at the Paradise Point Resort & Spa in San Diego, Calif. More than 200 beer industry professionals descended upon San Diego for the bi-annul business conference, but only those tuning in from behind their computer monitors were able to see interviews with notable industry figures such as Craft Brew Alliance CEO Andy Thomas, Storied Craft Breweries’ Adam Lambert and Nielsen’s Danny Brager.
The calendar flip to 2017 brought with it two important changes to the U.S. Internal Revenue Code that will impact a majority of the country’s brewers and cidermakers.
We said it one year ago and we’ll say it again: What an exhausting year. Much like the 12 months before it, 2016 brought plenty of headlines about the continued evolution of the beer segment. Dozens of craft brewery owners sold all or parts of their businesses, key executives at many of the country’s top beer companies vacated their positions and taproom culture began to boom at a time when sales for some of the largest and most established players softened. So, with another busy year in the books, let’s take a look back at some of the more noteworthy storylines in 2016.
Many within Boulevard Brewing Company believed Jeff Krum was preparing for retirement. Krum, Duvel USA’s vice president of corporate affairs and a 22-year Boulevard veteran, had spent 18 months months away from the brewery’s day-to-day operations after being assigned to complete special projects, such as a new visitors center and beer hall, which opened in July on Kansas City, Missouri’s Westside.
There’s bad blood brewing in Minnesota. Summit Brewing Company is suing two former employees, accusing them “of conspiring to sell the company’s confidential trade secrets to high-level executives for ‘a direct competitor,’” according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Beer distributors have been adapting to changes in the marketplace, on one level or another, for decades. When retailers asked distributors for greater levels of service, the merchandising department was created. As on-premise accounts added more draft lines, distributors were asked to clean the lines and assist with repairs or new installations. So what makes the SKU proliferation of the past decade, and the level of associated changes, different from the above-mentioned service layers?
Popular craft beermaker Trillium Brewing is planning to relocate its original brewing facility in the Fort Point neighborhood of Boston to a larger space just a few blocks away, Brewbound has learned. The new space, according to brewery co-owner Jean-Claude Tetreault, will span more than 15,000 sq. ft. and will include a full-scale restaurant as well as outdoor patio seating. The company is also looking into the feasibility of building a roof deck bar, Tetreault added.
Kary Shumway is the founder of Beer Business Finance, an online resource for beer industry professionals. He has worked in the beer industry for over 20 years as a Certified Public Accountant and currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Clarke Distributors, Inc. in Keene, New Hampshire. In part I of his two-part column for Brewbound Voices, Shumway describes the inner workings of a beer distributor and begins to explain how these organizations are evolving to accommodate an onslaught of new craft SKUs.
What’s life been like for Virginia’s Devils Backbone since it was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev? Revenue is up 18 to 20 percent over the previous year, according to the News and Advance, which recently profiled the brewery.