The National Black Brewers Association (NB2A) announced its launch today as the Brewers Association’s (BA) annual Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) kicked off in Nashville, Tennessee.
NB2A is a “first-of-its-kind non-profit organization” that aims to promote the Black brewing community; increase Black participation at all levels of brewery employment, “especially ownership and brewmasters;” develop and advocate for policies to bolster the community; and provide “historical context and legacy surrounding African American influence on brewing in the U.S.,” according to a press release.
The organization has tapped beverage industry veteran Kevin Asato as its first executive director. Asato’s career includes stints at PepsiCo, the former Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Bacardi and Republic National Distributing Company.
Asato is a managing partner at Davin Consulting, a firm specializing in healthcare and beverage leadership, strategy and sales execution. In addition to that, Asato is also a board member of the Uncle Nearest Venture Fund, the investment arm of the Black-owned whiskey brand that seeks to boost other minority-owned spirits brands.
Asato made his first public appearance in the role at Brewbound’s Brew Talks meetup to discuss NB2A’s mission.
“We want to be the most trusted and respected and impactful organization for Black brewers of America,” he said. “We’re going to highlight the history and understanding of Black brewers, and from that history our mission is going to be driven towards, quite frankly, addressing the fact that only 1% of ownership is in the Black and African American communities, so we’re going to look to right that and increase that and be a little bit more rep of the demographics of the U.S.”
In a 2021 survey, the BA found that 93.5% of craft brewery owners are white; 0.4% of respondents identified as non-Hispanic Black. However, BA chief economist Bart Watson noted the responses showed “evidence of response bias,” and cautioned against comparing the 2021 results to the results of the BA’s 2018 survey, in which 1% of respondents were Black brewery owners.
In that survey, non-brewing production staff reported the highest population of Black employees at 4.7%, followed by non-managerial service staff (4.2%), non-managerial production staff (3.5%), and non-managerial, non-production, non-service staff (1.9%).
The NB2A announced its officers for its inaugural year as appointed by its board of directors:
- President Kevin Johnson, Oak Park Brewing;
- First vice president Garrett Oliver, Brooklyn Brewery;
- Second vice president Dr. J. Jackson-Beckham, Crafted for All;
- Treasurer Marcus Baskerville, Weathered Souls Brewing;
- Secretary Celeste Beatty, Harlem Brewing.
Beatty, who founded Harlem Brewing in 2000 and was the first Black woman to own a brewery in the modern craft era, joined Asato on stage during Brew Talks. She shared the hurdles she’s faced in trying to secure capital as a Black, female entrepreneur.
“The one that I’ve experienced personally and when I’ve talked to other Black and brown brewers is making sure that the bankers and the funders actually understand that we are able to have a passion for beer,” she said, adding that even after decades in the industry she’s been questioned on her knowledge and dedication to brewing.
NB2A board member Chris Harris, owner of Black Frog Brewery, added that people of color are even ignored as a potential drinker base – a mistake craft brewers make at their own peril.
“If you look at some of the major players in the beer industry, they don’t really target minority communities with craft beer,” he said. “Minorities make up a big demographic of consumership that’s going to purchase beer, so that might be another revenue stream that people may not even be considering.”
In addition to Harris, Beatty and the aforementioned officers, the NB2A board of directors includes:
- Clarence Boston, Hippin’ Hops Brewing, Atlanta;
- Alisa Bowens-Mercado, Rhythm Brewing, New Haven, Connecticut;
- Denise Ford-Sawadogo, Montclair Brewing, Montclair, New Jersey;
- Rodney Hines, Métier Brewing, Seattle;
- Aaron Hosé, filmmaker;
- Teo Hunter, Crowns & Hops Brewing, Inglewood, California;
- Khris Johnson, Green Bench Brewing, St. Petersburg, Florida;
- Jon Renthrope, Cajun Fire Brewing, New Orleans;
- Dennis Malcolm Byron, Ale Sharpton beer media and content, Atlanta.
Watch Asato, Beatty and Harris discuss the NB2A’s goals and purpose with Brewbound editor Justin Kendall below. The conversation will also be available later this week on the Brewbound Podcast.