Florida’s third largest brewery has been acquired. Indian River Beverage Corporation, which operates under the name Florida Beer Company, was purchased by the ANSA McAL group of companies based in Trinidad and Tobago, Brewbound has learned.
A key pair of Ballast Point Brewing executives have departed the San Diego-based brewery less than nine months after its $1 billion sale to Constellation Brands, a spokesperson from the larger company confirmed to Brewbound. Ballast Point president and CEO, Jim Buechler, and chief commercial officer Earl Kight have left Ballast Point to “pursue other interests within the beverage alcohol space,” according to Constellation Brands spokesman Michael McGrew.
Although overall craft beer growth has slowed considerably, production for America’s small and independent brewers was still up eight percent through the first six months of 2016, according to a new report from the Brewers Association.
The U.S Department of Justice today announced it has agreed to a settlement with Anheuser-Busch InBev that would permit the world’s largest beer company to “proceed with its acquisition” of the world’s second-largest beer company, SABMiller. In an effort to move forward with the merger, and as part of the consent decree, A-B InBev agreed to a number of conditions in the U.S., including the much anticipated divestiture of MillerCoors, as well as other requirements that could impact the way small and independent brewers and beer wholesalers operate.
MillerCoors today announced that Tenth and Blake Beer Company, its craft beer and import division, has reached an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Terrapin Beer Company. The purchase builds on a pre-existing relationship between the two companies: MillerCoors, via Tenth and Blake, had previously acquired a minority (less than 25 percent) stake in the Athens, GA-based craft brewery in early 2012.
U.S. hop production is set to increase by double-digits once again in 2016, according to a new report from the Hop Growers of America (HGA). According to the group, more than 53,200 acres of hops were strung for harvest in the U.S. this year, which represents more than 8,300 new acres – an 18.5 percent increase over last year.
Just three months after it was acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev, Virginia’s Devils Backbone will expand its reach into two new states – Pennsylvania and Delaware.
If you’ve worked in any industry for more than 30 years, it’s safe to assume that you’re an expert in that field. So by that logic, Harpoon Brewery co-founder Dan Kenary, who started the Boston-based company with partners Rich Doyle and George Ligeti in 1986, is a bona fide beer business expert. In a wide-ranging interview with Kenary, the longtime beer executive shares with Brewbound the business lessons he’s learned over the last three decades and thoughts on how the craft category will continue to evolve over the next few years.
There’s more private equity money flowing into the craft brewing industry, this time via consumer products-focused firm VMG Consumer Partners and popular San Diego beermaker Stone Brewing. VMG — which specializes in food and beverage investments and has purchased stakes in entrepreneurial ventures like KIND Healthy Snacks, Pirate’s Booty, Justin’s and Spindrift, among others — will invest $89.5 million into a recently formed limited partnership called “VMG Stone Brewing Coinvestment,” according to a June SEC filing.
In this week’s distribution roundup: Colorado’s Left Hand Brewing begins distributing in Wyoming, the 37th state where its products are sold; California’s Knee Deep Brewing Company plans to enter Kansas this summer and San Diego’s Alesmith Brewing Company will soon begin selling its beers in Sin City.
The Beer Institute, a Washington D.C.-based trade association representing domestic and international beer companies, has launched a new initiative asking brewers large and small to display caloric and nutritional information on individual products, packaging and websites. Calling it the “Brewers Voluntary Disclosure Initiative,” the BI is encouraging its 44 brewer and importer members – as well as more than 4,000 non-member craft breweries — to voluntarily include a serving facts statement on their products, as well as disclose ingredients on either the label or secondary packaging by 2020.
Duvel Moortgat USA today announced it has hired former Diageo marketing veteran Doug Campbell as the new president of Brewery Ommegang. In a press release, the company said Campbell would “oversee the day-to-day operations at the Cooperstown brewery” and “spearhead all marketing initiatives for Brewery Ommegang.” Current marketing director Bill Wetmore is leaving to pursue other opportunities, the company noted.
Longtime Sierra Nevada brewmaster Steve Dresler will retire in early 2017, the beer company announced last week. Under Dresler’s direction, Sierra Nevada won eight World Beer Cup awards and 31 Great American Beer Festival medals, according to the release. Sierra Nevada said it has already begun the search for a new brewmaster and that Dresler would help train the yet-to-be named replacement.
In this week’s edition of Last Call: Olde Mecklenburg Brewery embarks on a multi-million dollar expansion and launches an ad campaign; Stone Brewing taps its first Richmond-brewed beer; Appalachian Mountain Brewery updates shareholders and the Beer Institute reports import volumes through May.
