In an effort to recognize the business initiatives of brewers across the U.S., Brewbound announced the first-ever recipients of the Brewbound Awards at its full-day conference held on Dec. 4 in San Diego, Calif.
Beer wholesalers in Idaho are asking the state’s Alcohol Beverage Control Bureau to clarify a law enabling small brewers to operate as both producers and retailers with multiple locations. As written, Idaho law permits breweries that produce fewer than 30,000 barrels per year to manage retail fronts and brewpubs.
With an expansion into nine new states, the Craft Brew Alliance-owned Kona Brewing brand will be sold nationwide in early 2015. In a press statement, the company said it plans to enter Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma and West Virginia next January.
Ninkasi Brewing has expanded distribution throughout Colorado, tapping C.R. Goodman Companies for statewide coverage. The brewery, headquartered in Eugene, Ore., will launch in the market today with offerings including Total Domination IPA, Believer Double Red, and Oatis Oatmeal Stout.
Craft Brew Alliance today announced it has signed a letter of intent to form a strategic partnership with Appalachian Mountain Brewery, a publicly traded craft brewery based in Boone, North Carolina. Although specific terms of the deal were not disclosed, CBA told Brewbound the two companies will explore ways to “drive business growth and shareholder value through sharing resources in key strategic areas.”
Maui | Stone Craft Beverages, the Hawaiian distribution arm jointly owned by Stone Brewing and Maui Brewing, has built out its portfolio and is now selling 21 craft brands throughout the island of Maui, the company announced today. The company, which launched in February, sells a curated lineup of beers and ciders from California, Hawaii, Colorado and Oregon, refrigerated “through every link of the distribution chain.”
What sets J.J. Taylor Distributing apart from other wholesalers is what president and general manager Jay Martin calls “the three P’s.” “It’s our people, it’s our portfolio, and it’s our planning process,” he says, while conceding “I guess you could say some of that sounds cliché-ish.” Perhaps, but it’s helping the Florida distributor move beer in a growing, albeit underdeveloped market.
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruling that requires chain establishments with more than 20 locations to list caloric information on their menus may have left a significant gray area for craft beer. The new ruling, announced Tuesday, affects both on-and-off-premise establishments, including chain restaurants, movie theaters, vending machines as well as grocery and convenience stores serving prepared foods.
Somehow, amidst all of the growth and excitement in cider, the category’s second-largest producer, Woodchuck, is suffering. Sales are in a downward spiral. In the six-month period ending Aug. 31, parent company C&C Group’s U.S. volumes fell 21 percent. Operating profit is down almost 90 percent and production of Woodchuck has declined 29 percent.
Florida’s Office of the Attorney General has filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit that calls into question the constitutionality of the state’s long held and controversial ban on 64 oz. growlers. Currently, 32 and 128 oz. growlers are legal in the state, but 64 oz. packages, which are most commonly used for sales of take-home draft beer, are prohibited, something that many argue is harmful to the burgeoning craft beer industry.
Whoops, file this one in the retraction column. Apparently the Russians aren’t actually buying Pabst Brewing Company. In September, it was widely reported that Russia’s Oasis Beverage was teaming up with TSG Consumer Partners, a New York-based private equity firm, and beverage entrepreneur Eugene Kashper to buy the Pabst brand from C. Dean Metropoulos for upwards of $750 million.
The Coca-Cola Company today announced it has signed a definitive agreement with Reyes Holdings, granting the wholesaler the distribution rights for Coke products in the Chicago area. In today’s statement, Coke confirmed that Reyes, via its newly established “Great Lakes Coca-Cola Distribution L.L.C.” arm, would “dedicate all of the company’s sales and distribution activities on servicing the Coca-Cola brands.”
Anheuser-Busch InBev’s recent acquisition of 10 Barrel Brewing may have been just the next step in the beer behemoth’s effort to augment its foothold in the craft side of the business, but the path won’t be completely clear until it resolves issues within the acquisition’s existing distribution network. In many markets, the 10 Barrel brand is already sold through A-B InBev wholesalers. But in areas like Boise, Idaho (Hayden Beverage Co.), Pendleton, Ore.
Green Flash Brewing announced Monday it would acquire Alpine Beer Company, a small San Diego-area craft brewery known for its highly coveted hop-forward offerings. Although specific terms of the deal were not disclosed, Green Flash co-founder Mike Hinkley told Brewbound that the Alpine’s founders, Pat and Val McIlhenney, received cash and equity in Green Flash Brewing as part of the transaction.
