With nearly 9,500 breweries operating in the U.S., the surest way to stand out is to have a strong and authentic brand identity.
Talea Beer Co. co-founder LeAnn Darland, Funkytown Brewery co-founder Rich Bloomfield and Shojo Beer Co. co-owner and head brewer Haidar Hachem graced the stage at Brewbound Live in Santa Monica late last month to discuss their own brand identities and the gaps in craft beer that they are attempting to fill.
Hachem and his wife Marilyn Orozco launched Shojo Beer Co. in 2021 as a Japanese-inspired company with influences from the couple’s Lebanese and Nicaraguan heritages. The Miami-based company contract brews and has mainly created collaborative beers so far.
“The biggest thing that we try to accomplish is there’s the difference between appreciation or appropriation,” Hachem said. “Appreciation, you try to share a story and build cross-cultural connections with other people by broadening the general public’s knowledge of other heritages and cultures and all those things. Versus appropriation, where I’m taking everything that’s either Nicaraguan or Lebanese or Japanese and just like, ‘Hey, this is mine.’”
Darland and co-founder Tara Hankinson started Talea in Brooklyn, New York, to create a winery-style experience for craft beer that is approachable for new consumers.
“We wanted to create an experience that would invite those Napa wine lovers to have that same experience at a brewery,” Darland said. “The physical space is key for us: It’s bringing our brand to life. That’s on top of the liquid that we’re putting in the cans and the packaging design. It’s all a huge effort and strategy to speak authentically to non-beer bros.”
Even the way Talea describes its beers caters to a newer craft consumer with approachable and familiar language.
“There are very few beers that we list the hops on the label because most of our consumers don’t know and don’t care,” Darland said. “If you’re shopping for new beer and you see Mosaic and Idaho 7, that means nothing to so many people, but pineapple push pop and mango lassi, I can get behind that.”
Funkytown Brewery, a Chicago-based Black-owned brewery, has focused heavily on establishing its local presence with community events and other engagement opportunities. The company seeks out consumer feedback on brand styles and flavors when creating its offerings, which include a variety of styles such as an Irish red ale, Belgian witbier and oatmeal milk stout.
The company – which operates through the brewery incubator Pilot Project – recently expanded into Milwaukee and intends to continue its community focus in the new territory, engaging with consumers both in person and virtually.
“Even if it’s just resharing a post and saying thank you, it makes people feel included in the community,” Bloomfield said. “It’s consistent outreach. We’re in it for the long haul. You can’t just come up like ‘Hey, we got this new black beer’ and people are like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll buy a beer on a Tuesday now.’ You have to show how it fits into their lifestyle.”
Hachem, Darland and Bloomfield also discussed how to remain authentic and how they intend to maintain their brand identities as they grow. Watch the full video above.