“Steeled by struggle, renewed by resilience, optimistic and independent, we are stronger than ever,” Brewers Association (BA) president and CEO Bob Pease said during the opening session of the 2022 Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) in Minneapolis.
Pease noted the hardships and unforeseen challenges the pandemic have caused the trade association for small and independent craft brewers, as well as its members who have struggled to thrive while in “survival mode” for the last 24 months.
The BA itself was forced to make cutbacks, including jobs, in an effort to keep the organization alive as it struggled to make up for the lack of revenue from in-person events.
“Like all of you, we went through some really hard times,” Pease said. “But the last 12 months have been better for your Association. We’ve been able to ramp up resources in the areas like diversity, equity and inclusion, state and government affairs, external human resources and technical brewing.
“Through all of those struggles, we are here in May of 2022 to say you, America’s craft brewers, are on the way to the other side,” he added.
Pease ticked off several challenges that still remain, including the lingering pandemic, supply chain disruptions, inflation at a 40-year high, rising interest rates, a growing worker shortage and general economic uncertainty. However, he stressed that some challenges are within brewers’ control, including focusing on quality, creating healthy and safe workplaces for everyone, and championing diversity, equity and inclusion.
Pease also hit on the BA’s legislative priorities moving forward, including replenishing the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF). Without naming names, he pushed back on “those in the industry who cling to the status quo, who are threatened by technology and modern evolving policies, such as direct-to-consumer sales and shipping,” which he said craft brewers proved “could be done safely and efficiently during pandemic” and are welcomed by consumers.
Updating laws on the local, state and federal levels that provide access to market will be a priority that the BA’s staff “will work tirelessly” to achieve.
“It’s no secret that in state capitals across the country and our nation’s Capitol, America’s craft brewers and the Brewers Association are a force to be reckoned with,” Pease said. In recent years, the BA has beefed up its federal and local affairs teams with the additions of Marc Sorini, former Georgia Craft Brewers Guild leader Nancy Palmer and Sam DeWitt.
The release of the U.S. Treasury Department’s report on competition in the beverage-alcohol industry in February touched on several issues the BA has raised over the years, Pease added. Pease offered the report as a another way the BA is “helping shape and drive debate for a better and fairer marketplace for craft brewers.” On Day 2 of CBC, Tim Wu, special assistant to the president for technology and competition policy, will discuss that report.
“America’s craft brewing movement is about the beer and so much more,” Pease said. “It’s about quality and commitment to the craft. It’s about independence and innovation with a healthy dose of rebelliousness, and it’s about community and togetherness.
“America’s craft brewers are back, thriving and that together this craft brewing movement will move forward and flourish,” Pease continued.
BA board of directors chair Garrett Marrero praised craft brewers’ resilience in the face of seemingly unending challenges and urged them to continue their advocacy for the industry’s advancement.
“Craft brewers are some of the scrappiest, clever problem-solving, get-stuff-done type of people,” he said. “That resonates every time you pick up a craft beer. You know how challenging that was to make, so keep the fight.”
Craft breweries have received more than $1.5 billion in federal aid from the Paycheck Protection Program and RRF. However, many applicants were shut out from receiving RRF money before the fund ran out and attempts to replenish it have been slow to move through Congress. The BA advocated for brewers to be eligible for RRF funds.
“That is something that would not have happened without the efforts of Bob and [BA director of federal affairs] Katie [Marisic] and everyone else who wrote their legislators, so thank you,” Marrero said. “That work’s not over.”
A third-term board member, Marrero encouraged BA members to engage further with the organization.
“We get a lot of inbound criticism and not a lot of support and ‘Here’s a good idea, here’s what I think,’” he said. “It’s easy to question the BA on motive and our actions, so come out and talk to us because we work for you.”
Marrero urged members to emphasize safety, continue innovating (“a core value of our community”), invest in workers and beverages and engage with legislators about reforms such as direct-to-consumer shipping. He also noted that craft brewers must “continue to professionalize” and prioritize quality, because “if you’re not making great beer, you’re not doing anyone any favors.”
“We have come a long way in the 17 years that I’ve been involved in this industry, but I do believe we have a very long way to go,” Marrero said.
BA equity and inclusion partner Dr. J. Nikol Jackson-Beckham updated BA members on the pre-conference THRIVE workshop she hosted on Monday, which included guest speakers from inside and out of the beer industry on the topics of diversity, equity and inclusion and employee wellness. Jackson-Beckham pointed out that Minneapolis, CBC’s 2022 host city, ignited the national racial reckoning that began in 2020 when George Floyd was killed at the hands of a city police officer.
“We have an opportunity to learn from the leaders and community organizers who have been on the ground advocating for greater social justice in two of the most fraught years of our country’s history,” she said.
During CBC, members are encouraged to visit a station at the convention center to help build pantry packs that the United Way will distribute to food-insecure Twin Cities residents. The BA aims to build 3,000 packs featuring a variety of flavors of the various cultures among the area’s large immigrant population.