Brewbound is pleased to announce Craft Brew Alliance CEO Andy Thomas will speak at the upcoming Brewbound Session, which will be held in San Diego on Thursday, Dec. 4. Thomas will share his vision of a mature craft beer category. In his presentation, Thomas will address the important questions that, ultimately, will determine how much craft is able to grow.
Southern Tier Brewing is strengthening its executive roster. The company yesterday announced it hired Brendan Smith as its new vice president of sales and marketing. The move comes nearly two months after a recent capital infusion from private equity firm Ulysses Management LLC. Smith most recently held the role of senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Smithfield Foods, a global food processor with $13 billion in annual sales.
When the National Beer Wholesalers Association tapped Navy SEAL Robert O’Neill to speak at its annual conference this past summer, the network of distributors knew they were getting someone highly qualified to dole out wisdom on the topics of “leadership, decision-making, operating in uncertain environments and how to become the ‘best of the best.’” That’s how the network pitched his appearance in a July press release, anyway.
10 Barrel co-founder Jeremy Cox said the decision to sell was driven largely by his company’s rapid growth and the need for a more mature infrastructure. “We had some challenges growing the business,” he said “About three months ago, we realized we needed to find a strategic partner to help us with that.”
He was the author of the Declaration of Independence and the third U.S. president. Now, 188 years after his death, Thomas Jefferson can add to his resume. According to a Times Dispatch report, economic developers in Virginia dug up (read: hired an actor to play) Thomas Jefferson to help sell Stone Brewing on the state when the company was still in search of a place to build a facility on the east coast.
10 Barrel Brewing, a craft beer company based in Bend, Ore., today announced it has agreed to be acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest beer manufacturer. Official terms of the deal were not disclosed. It’s Anheuser-Busch’s second craft acquisition this year — it purchased New York’s Blue Point Brewing in February — and reflects the beer giant’s growing interest in the craft segment.
Smuttynose Brewing yesterday announced it will begin distributing beer to Arizona per an agreement with Arizona Beer and Cider Company, a new wholesale outfit based in Phoenix. Though this is Summtynose’s first foray into Arizona, it’s not the first time the company has done business with the founders of Arizona Beer and Cider, Jim and Jason Ebel.
The Brewers Association (BA) is once again calling on its members to steer the organization’s response to the U.S Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) controversial spent grains proposal in its most recently revised form. Hoping to inform additional comments, the BA is surveying its craft brewery members to find out how many process their spent grains before selling them to farmers for use as animal feed.
The Startup Brewery Challenge, Brewbound’s bi-annual business pitch competition, will return for a third edition at the Dec. 4 Brewbound Session in San Diego, Calif. Presented by Craft Brew Alliance, the Startup Brewery Challenge gives new U.S. craft breweries a chance to show off their business plans, sample a beer and receive immediate feedback from an expert judging panel.
In an off-beat quest to upend Prohibition-era regulations that many brewers in the state decry as overly burdensome, the Georgia Craft Brewers Guild (GCBG) has launched a crowdfunding campaign in hopes of hiring a lobbyist to work on behalf of the state’s craft beer industry. The Guild has already tapped the services of Atlanta’s Thrash-Haliburton, a government affairs firm, but now plans to use the funds raised on Indiegogo to bring them on full-time.
Brewbound is excited to announce that attendees of the Dec. 4 Brewbound Session in San Diego will have a unique opportunity to gain key consumer insights from Lester Jones, the chief economist for the National Beer Wholesalers Association. Drawing on more than 20 years of experience in applied economics, Jones will explain how craft beer can continue to stay relevant in a crowded marketplace.
Reyes Beverage Group today announced it would acquire South Florida’s Gold Coast Beverage Distributors in a blockbuster deal that brings another 27 million cases to a Reyes Group that, through its 12 wholesale outfits across the country, already sells more than 100 million cases annually. Once complete, the deal would make Reyes comparable in size to the largest distributor in the U.S., Anheuser-Busch InBev, with around 140 million cases.
Brewbound Session Winter 2014, a full-day conference on the business of craft beer, is just around the corner. If you haven’t already registered, there are limited seats remaining so please don’t delay.
Beginning early November, Fort Collins Brewery will ship its core lineup and select seasonal offerings throughout Arizona per an agreement with Young’s Market Company. Named after the northern Colorado town it was founded in, Fort Collins will round its distribution footprint out to 23 states with the launch.
