Deschutes Brewery has named Peter Skrbek as its new CEO, effective immediately.
Skrbek, who served as chief financial officer, assumes the post from Michael LaLonde, who took the role of president in 2011 and later added the title of CEO in 2017 of the Bend, Oregon, craft brewery — the 10th largest by volume, according to the Brewers Association.
LaLonde, who joined the brewery as CFO in February 2005, departed the company last week to explore new opportunities, Deschutes VP of sales and marketing Neal Stewart told Brewbound.
“Since joining Deschutes Brewery in 2005, Michael has provided thoughtful and steady leadership on dozens, if not hundreds of initiatives including several brewery expansion projects, the opening of our pub in Portland, Oregon, the installation of our canning line, the Street Pub tour, and many more,” Stewart wrote in a note shared with wholesalers today. “Everyone at Deschutes wishes Michael all the best and we thank him for his numerous contributions and efforts.”
Deschutes’ workforce was informed of the change last week.
Skrbek, who has worked at Deschutes for nearly a decade, “has knowledge in literally every facet of our business,” Stewart said.
“Whether it’s marketing or obviously his core competency of finance or brewing or even socio-economic issues, I mean, the guy knows a lot about a lot of things,” he added. “He’s going to be a great person to fill the role.”
In his note to Deschutes’ wholesalers, Stewart added that Skrbek’s knowledge of “the commercial side of the business will add value from day one and allow us to stay focused on delivering growth and profit to our entire network in 2022.”
Stewart shared that the Deschutes brand finished 2021 down -2% in shipments. However, the Boneyard Beer brand, which the company acquired in March 2021, finished the year up +55%. Taking those two portfolios together from April through the end of 2021, the combined company finished the year up +10% in volume.
“The Boneyard brand has proven to be what we thought it was — it’s a rocket ship of a brand, led by RPM IPA,” Stewart said.
Since acquiring the brand, Deschutes has expanded and scaled Boneyard’s off-premise distribution, and the brand is performing at “a high level” in Oregon and Washington. The company has expanded its distribution to Idaho via Hayden Beverage Company and opened statewide distribution in Nevada through Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits.
“We see really big things for the Boneyard brand in the future,” Stewart said.
Last year, Deschutes revealed plans to focus on its Fresh family of IPAs, backed by the company’s largest media campaign. The company also struck a multi-year deal to become the official craft beer of the Pac-12 Conference. Deschutes also shuttered its tasting room in Roanoke, Virginia, at the end of the year, citing pandemic-driven declines and an inability to convert the space to include brewing capacity, food service and outdoor seating.
In off-premise retailers tracked by market research firm IRI, Deschutes finished 2021 as the 24th largest beer category vendor, with $66.2 million in sales (-6.5% compared to the 2020 fridge stocking year).