Beer Marketer's Insights
Grind, the London-based boutique café chain that recently planted flag in LA, has accelerated its move into RTDs via acquisition of UK's Bottleshot Coffee. With Bottleshot's cans having already cracked accts like Whole Foods, Ocado, WH Smith and Virgin Atlantic air carrier, Grind will retain offering, but gradually cut it over to its own brand name, with Bottleshot ceo Annie Mitchell and coo Leonora Berend joining Grind team. With the RTD portfolio void now filled, Grind will begin its push from ecomm-only into UK retail with its branded coffee pods and packaged coffee, under leadership of Mitchell as head of grocery & B2B, per report in World Coffee Portal. Grind founder/ceo David Abrahamovitch said Bottleshop already has locked in supply chain resources to produce tens of millions of cans annually.
Blank Street Coffee, which operates as a kind of Shake Shack-like stripped down retailer, has pulled in another big round, $20 mil added to the $67 mil it raised in 2021. Investors included Left Lane Capital, HOF Capital, General Catalyst and Tiger Global, per report in Fast Company. Recall that founders Vinay Menda and Issam Freiha started concept with single cart in hipster hive of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, but have since embarked on frenetic buildout that's brought network to 40+ locations in NY, along with first stores in DC, Boston and London. Controversially among some coffee aficionados, the stores are highly automated units within tight footprint that don't waste space trying to be a "third place" for lounging latte lovers, to use the phrase appropriated by Starbucks' Howard Schultz. Rather, the stores average 350 sq ft and rely on Eversys espresso gear to pump out brewed coffee and espresso at touch of a button - not much differently than your local Dunkin' store since that chain's coffee makeover a few years ago.
TALEA Beer Co is one of the more unique up-and-comin' craft brewers in the country, making its mark on the large and complex NYC beer market with its female-focused beers and branding. The company sold a little over 4K bbls sold in 2022 with 75% of its volume sold thru wholesale partner Union Beer and the rest at its two Brooklyn-based taprooms, including flagship locale in Williamsburg, newer taproom in Cobble Hill that opened in Jun 2022 and a pop-up at Grand Central, co-founder LeAnn Darland shared with CBN in recent chat. But the revenue make-up is "the opposite of that." This year, TALEA's opening two more taprooms in Manhattan, looking to "double down" as a "really powerful, female-forward New York City brand," she stated.
Mahou USA chief sales officer position is currently open and unfilled as industry vet Anthony Giardina is no longer with the company, sources shared with CBN and LinkedIn confirmed. No comment from Mahou at presstime but the move comes as Mahou USA just began to integrate Founders, Avery and Mahou imports biz under one roof (see Jan 10 & Jan 13 issues). Sales remain soft in early 2022 scans with Mahou USA $$ down 11%, volume down 16% YTD thru Feb 26. Lead brand All Day IPA sales slipped 9%, volume -14%, suggesting rest of the company down steeper double-digits so far.
On its quest to make Montauk Brewing a national brand, Tilray is deepening Montauk's distribution ties across the northeast, filling out NY, NJ, CT and RI, co announced yesterday. Recall, brand already partnered with SKI in NYC, Boening in Long Island and Kohler in northern NJ pre-acquisition. But now it's adding list of distribs including: Shore Point Distributing (NJ), Kramer Beverage (NJ), Oak Beverages (NY), Lake Beverage (NY), Saratoga Eagle (NY), Eagle Beverage Co (NY), Try-It Distributing (NY), A.L. George (NY), McCraith Beverages (NY), Dutchess Beer Distributors (NY), Northeast Beverage (CT), F&F (CT) and C&C (RI).
California's Firestone Walker is officially adding KS and MO to flagship 805's distribution footprint, making good on its promise to expand the brand's presence while leveraging portfolio-mate Boulevard's mkt knowledge. Co planned to start with 805 Blonde on draft only, Head of Sales Kristen Demergian shared previously (see Nov 7 issue). But 805 Beer is now launching in 6 & 12pk cans, 24oz singles and draft across those 2 states, partnering with LDF, Heart of America, Crown, Central States and Breakthru. 805 Cerveza will follow in KS and MO after 805 "successfully connects with beer drinkers in those markets," per release.
Short's Brewing Co finished 2022 with shipments down 10%, CEO Scott Newman-Bale shared with CBN. That likely puts the Bellaire, MI-based brewer right around 47,500 bbls all in, after 2021 production landed at 53K bbls including beers, seltzers and ciders. But Short's forecasted 2022 as a down year, since co "eliminated" its hard seltzers and Arcadia Brewing Brands, while shifting all bottled products to cans and cutting geographic territory. (Recall, Short's acquired Arcadia Brewing amid the pandemic.)
NAs Up to 1 Share of Total Beer Thru Early Mar in NielsenIQ; Craft NAs at 30 Share of Segment
Non-alc beer trends strengthened to start the yr, and craft brands continue to grow within the segment, per NielsenIQ all outlet data shared by Bump Williams Consulting. Total NA dollar sales jumped 36% with volume up 24% yr-to-date thru Mar 4, up to 1 full share pt of total beer for 9 wks. Still the fastest growing beer segment by $$ and volume, likely boosted by Dry Jan and new entries. But craft NAs grew much faster, up 82% vs yr ago, even as total craft sales slipped 2% in same timeframe. Craft NAs nabbed over 30 share of non-alc beer for the period, up from 24 share for full-yr 2022 (see Jan 18 issue).
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