When Engbers started his brewery, he thought that he should make the same beers as everyone else. He also said that he didn’t understand the politics of the three-tier system — that some retailers don’t work with some distributors, for example — and he repeated the word “naive” throughout his presentation.
“Making money never really entered our business plan,” Engbers said.
He thought he’d produce about 2,000 barrels in his first year, but he did about 400. He said they currently do more than 2,000 barrels in a day, but they had to smarten up first.
“We really needed to focus on who we are,” he said.
They did, and they did it fast. Founders’ original location was 6,000 square feet. Their current location in Grandville, Mich., after a few levels of expansion, will be 76,240 square feet. The brewery started with three employees and now boasts a staff of 138. Founders is currently in 25 states, mostly east of the Mississippi River, and has accumulated a growth rate of 73 percent from 2008-2012, with a projected growth rate of 86 percent for 2013.
And while these numbers would encourage most craft brewers, Engbers said that it all happened because Founders defined itself and stuck to it. A number of staffers, from the CEO to daily brewers, gathered around a table and described the people of the brewery: they’re passionate, genuine, unconventional and badass.
Engbers told a story about a former brewer named Pickles who was the first employee to leave Founders. Pickles wanted to see the mountains out west, and there aren’t any mountains in Grandville. So, like Lewis and Clark before him, Pickles went west. He eventually ended up working at another brewery, which Engbers called one day. He wanted to check in on his old buddy. The person he spoke with noticed that Pickles always carried a toothbrush, and it wasn’t for his own hygiene; it was for cleaning the tanks. Engbers got goosebumps telling the story and said that after working at Founders, employees, like Pickles, simply become better brewers.
Along with forming a genuine — and what he terms as a “bad-ass” staff — Engbers credited much of his brewery’s success to strengthening relationships with distributors, retailers, consumers, employees, financial institutions, suppliers and, especially, the local community.
“You can never turn your back on your backyard,” he said.
With its philanthropic branch, known as Harpoon Helps, Harpoon Brewery has also embraced its role in the community. The staff of the Boston-based brewery, like most residents in the city, were deeply affected by the terror at the Boston Marathon. Harpoon co-founders Richard Doyle and Daniel Kenary said that they felt a responsibility to help in this challenging time, so they extended hours at the beer hall on three Tuesday nights and will donate proceeds from beer and pretzel sales to One Fund Boston, which supports the victims of the tragedy.
Kenary said that approximately 20-25 percent of Harpoon’s business comes from sales in Boston, but this sales base isn’t what drives Harpoon Helps. He said that there’s a truly local pride within the company.
“Dan and I never had a goal of being national,” Doyle said.
While Harpoon has doubled down on its core market in Boston, Andy Thomas, the president of commercial operations for the Craft Brew Alliance (CBA), has focused on taking CBA brands — Kona Brewing, Redhook Brewery, Widmer Brothers Brewing and Omission — national. This goal wouldn’t fit with the business
plans of Harpoon or Pretty Things, but it fits for CBA, which Thomas said pushes for no overlap and unique purpose with each brand. This strategy is meant to reflect the current craft beer landscape.
“Gone are the days of brand loyalty as we knew it,” Thomas said.
Thomas discussed his recently announced partnership with restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings, which will serve a new, draft-only beer called “Game Changer.” Starting this summer, the pale ale will roll out to more than 900 locations of the restaurant across the country.
The new offering reflects Thomas’ belief in occasion-based products, which mesh with the various types of beer drinkers. Game Changer will complement the chicken wing eater watching sports, he noted. Yet despite CBA’s national plans, Thomas said that this beer, like the rest of his brands, won’t lose their realness.
“Real is like ponography,” Thomas said. “You know it when you see it.”
More coverage of the Brewbound Session in Boston will follow.
The next Brewbound Session will happen on December 5 at Paradise Point Resort & Spa in San Diego. For more information, please contact Mike Vassallo, the Brewbound account executive, at mvassallo@bevnet.com or 617-231-8827.