Citing volume limitations and a need to focus on its midwestern distribution footprint, Fat Head’s Brewery announced Friday that it would stop distributing to the Florida market next month.
The final delivery of the Ohio-based brewery’s beer will be made by Cavalier Distributing to the Sunshine State in early January, the company said via a press release. Its supply is expected to be exhausted by early February. (Cavalier will remain Fat Head’s wholesaler in Ohio and Indiana.)
“While this wasn’t an easy decision, based on current capacity constraints,” Fat Head’s head of sales and marketing Bill Wetmore said in the release, “we think it is in the best long-term interest of consumers to focus our available resources and supply within our core footprint of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana.
“Excitedly, this will allow us to grow more substantially in our heartland in the coming year than we would otherwise have been able to do,” continued Wetmore, who joined Fat Head’s in October after an 8-year stint with Brewery Ommegang as general manager and marketing director. “With plans for our expanded production facility well underway, capacity restrictions aren’t something we will need to deal with much longer, but they are our reality today and for the near-term.”
Last month, Fat Head’s Brewery announced it was looking to double its capacity by building a 125,000 sq. ft., $11.4 million production brewery with a tasting room and restaurant in Middleburg Heights, Ohio. The new facility has the potential to push Fat Head’s capacity to 60,000 barrels a year.
Also in November, Fat Head’s announced it was considering expanding its brewpub empire into Canton, Ohio and Charlotte, North Carolina. In addition to the company’s North Olmsted, Ohio, homebase, Fat Head’s operates a brewpub in Portland, Oregon, and a restaurant in Pittsburgh.