It’s not exactly novel these days, but last week’s headlines illustrated that consolidation is a hot topic in the beer industry. Last week, we learned of three new deals. Call them mergers or acquisitions or whatever else you like, but they all fall under the heading of consolidation. Whether it’s brewery-plus-brewery, distributor-plus-distributor, or some other kind of consolidation, it’s a trend we cannot ignore.
Band of Brewers
Last week, Left Hand Brewing announced that it had acquired Dry Dock Brewing. Left Hand is the third-largest craft brewery in Colorado. The deal will see the owners of Dry Dock get an equity share in Indian Peaks Brewing, the parent company of Left Hand Brewing, and move into roles in sales and promotions. Combined, Left Hand and Dry Dock are disturbed in 45 states.
Eric Wallace, the co-founder and CEO of Left Hand Brewing, says it is a matter of survival in the face of a changing business landscape. He told the Denver Post, “Things are changing… Those of us who band together have a much likelier chance of survival than those who don’t.”
The Big Get Bigger
Hand Family Companies (HFC) acquired Stone Distributing Company and Classic Beverages, two independent beverage distributors in Southern California. HFC is a multi-state company that distributes, among other things, Anheuser-Busch products. The result of last week’s acquisitions is a new entity: Sunset Distributing, a subsidiary of HFC. As a result, HFC’s total case sales volume is expected to exceed 50 million cases.
In 2022, Sapporo acquired Stone Brewing, which led to the formation of Stone Distributing, an independent craft-focused distributorship. Sapporo still owns Stone Brewing; this story involves Stone Distributing. At the time of the acquisition, Stone Distributing handled several familiar craft brands across Southern California, including Avery, Coronado, El Segundo, Fremont, Pizza Port, Russian River, and many others. Classic Beverages was also an independent distributor in Southern California, handling familiar brands like Alaskan Brewing, Belching Beaver, pFriem, Rogue, and many others. How the consolidation will impact all the breweries involved remains to be seen.
Young and Old
Other consolidation news last week came out of Colorado, where Wilding Brands acquired Great Divide Brewing. Wilding Brands was founded last year. Great Divide Brewing was founded in 1994.
Wilding Brands is a craft beverage company formed as the result of last year’s merger of Denver Beer Company, Funkwerks, and Stem Ciders. Great Divide is an esteemed, award-winning brewery and Colorado’s oldest and largest packaging craft brewery. The deal will see Wilding take over all six of Great Divide’s locations. Wilding will now have a total of 13 taprooms and restaurant locations in the Denver area.
