When asked during last week’s earnings call whether or not the U.S. craft market was reaching an “inflection point,” Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Carlos Brito responded by speculating that consumers might one day “get a bit tired of so much choice.” That sound bite — which was part of a two-minute long response about the growth of craft, A-B’s activity in the segment and thoughts on how the category is continuing to evolve — would eventually get picked up by beverage industry website just-drinks.com, igniting a hailstorm of hot takes in the process.
Another member of MillerCoors’ Tenth & Blake division is setting up shop near a Major League Baseball stadium. Texas’ Revolver Brewing plans to open a brewery inside the forthcoming entertainment district being developed by the Texas Rangers and the Cordish Companies in Arlington, Texas.
Anheuser-Busch InBev today announced it would purchase Karbach Brewing Company, the fastest-growing craft brewery in Texas and the ninth to join A-B’s ever-expanding High End division. Specific financial terms of the transaction were not disc
Craft Brew Alliance (CBA) today released its third quarter earnings results, which were highlighted by a 12.7 percent increase in Kona Brewing shipments and a portfolio-wide net sales growth of 1.1 percent percent compared to the same period in 2015. In a press release, CEO Andy Thomas once again touted the company’s “Kona Plus” strategy — one that combines a nationwide sales effort for the Hawaiian-themed brand with a regional sales approach for strategic partners Cisco Brewers and Appalachian Mountain as well as the more established Widmer Brothers and Redhook labels.
As Anheuser-Busch InBev works to integrate recently acquired SABMiller, which it purchased last month for more than $100 billion, the company has announced a number of key executive changes. Marcel Marcondes, who previously served as a vice president of global marketing, will replace Jorn Socquet as the company’s vice president of marketing in the United States. Socquet has been appointed to a new global role as VP of marketing strategy and core brands, the company said via a press release.
In this week’s edition of press clips: Ex-Surly Brewer Todd Haug joins Three Floyds; Hood River Juice Co. president acquires interest in Wandering Aengus Ciderworks; Untappd’s ‘software for businesses’ grows and more.
Two Roads Brewing Company today said it would spend $12 million to expand its operations with the addition of a new 25,000 sq. ft. brewery and barrel-aging facility adjacent to its existing location in Stratford, Connecticut. Situated on 2.5 acres, the new facility — which the company said would be dedicated to the production of sour and barrel-aged beers — will feature a 50-barrel brewhouse, foeders, a coolship and space for 2,000 wooden barrels.
Constellation Brands, which owns the Corona and Modelo brand rights in the U.S., today announced plans to purchase the Obregon, Mexico brewery from Grupo Modelo, an Anheuser-Busch InBev subsidiary, for $600 million. In a press statement, the company said it would submit a proposal to the U.S. Department of Justice, and also noted that the brewery purchase would allow Constellation to “become fully independent from the interim supply agreement with Grupo Modelo.”
In a move that underscores the ongoing tension between beer wholesalers and brewers in Massachusetts, up-and-coming Night Shift Brewing has launched a full-scale distribution business aimed at challenging what the brewery calls an anti-competitive and archaic system.
In this week’s edition of press clips: Bart Watson blogs about the craft slowdown; Modern Times Beer reveals an Anaheim brewery project and Golden Eagle announces an Illinois acquisition.
In the final entry of our three-part series on branding considerations for craft breweries, Isaac Arthur, a partner and designer at CODO Design in Indianapolis, Indiana, explains how an established brewery might approach a rebranding process.
Before it moved into a new 67,000 sq. ft. brewing facility at 100 Clinton Street in Framingham, Mass., popular Boston-area craft brewery Jack’s Abby occupied just 15,000 sq. ft. of space in a warehouse less than one mile away from its current location. And when the company finishes building out an expanded “Springdale” taproom and barrel-aging space in a recently acquired area next door to its existing production site, it will officially be operating within a 130,000 sq. ft. footprint.
Christine Perich, the CEO of New Belgium Brewing, will depart the organization to “pursue other opportunities,” the company announced today. The Colorado-headquartered brewery — which also maintains a production facility in Asheville, N.C. and is ranked by the Brewers Association as the country’s fourth largest craft outfit — has yet to appoint a replacement.
A well-known figure in Maine’s craft beer scene is running for the state’s House of Representatives. Heather Sanborn, co-owner of Rising Tide Brewing Company and the former president of the Maine Brewers Guild, is running as a Democrat for House District seat 43, which represents parts of Portland and Falmouth. Sanborn is running against Republican attorney Jeffrey Langholtz.
