Fresh off the announcement that he and his brothers and business partners have struck a deal to acquire Worcester, Massachusetts-based Wormtown Brewery, Jack’s Abby co-founder and CEO Sam Hendler discussed the deal in depth with Brewbound.
Both craft breweries will operate under the newly formed Hendler Family Brewing umbrella, which also includes contract arm Jack’s Beverage Co. The company is one of the 10 largest family-owned brewing enterprises in the country, according to a press release.
The transaction, which is expected to close in early summer, and related capital investments will create the largest craft brewing facility in Massachusetts.
On how contract brewing with Wormtown leaders became something more … “These talks started in the fall as contract brewing conversations. We’ve been obviously investing heavily into the contract brewing space. And then early this year, they evolved into a different conversation.
On how Jack’s Abby and Wormtown interact in their home state …: “It’s been one of the most interesting parts of diving into the data for both brands. In most Massachusetts counties, one brand is outselling the other by two to one. So two breweries 20 miles apart, selling within 2% of each other in the same volume of beer in the state. And county by county, one brand beats out the other by a two to one margin.
“The most obvious gaps are in Suffolk and Middlesex counties, Jack’s creams Wormtown. And in Worcester County and west, Wormtown creams Jack’s Abby. It’s amazing. Again, the breweries are 20 miles apart, so to see that stark a difference is pretty phenomenal.”
“It’s a very interesting finding and doesn’t go perfectly with just saying, ‘Well, they’re in a bigger distributor there’ or something like that. There’s clearly something happening at the brand level and the execution level that’s different for these two brands in different territories. And we need to figure that out and how to solve it.”
On bringing New England powerhouse Be Hoppy IPA into the fold … “We’re excited. But even more important to us is just that the brand is extremely strong. Be Hoppy will be the largest single brand in the entire portfolio of the brewery, so larger than any Jack’s Abby brand. And it is an absolute juggernaut.
“That is what we are excited for. It’ll be our No. 1 rate-of-sale brand and we are really excited to bring our scale and our level of execution to that brand and see what it can do.”
On how the newly christened Hendler Family Brewing will reach 110,000 barrels of brewing capacity … “We are finalizing commissioning an automated 60-barrel BrauKon brewhouse that we purchased from Night Shift, and we’re also installing some new outdoor tanks, also a cellar automation project. There’s CapEx going into all sides of the brewery.”
On Jack’s Beverage Co.’s outlook for this year … “We have picked up a variety of contract partners. We’re gonna do about 45,000 barrels of contract volume in 2024.”
On Wormtown’s existing distribution network … “We want to make sure Wormtown is in the best position to succeed, and that is our focus with the wholesalers. We will make sure that is what we keep our attention on.”
Is there a plan to have the company’s roughly 20-person salesforce represent both Jack’s Abby and Wormtown? “Not particularly. Especially in Massachusetts where there’s a concentration of a lot of volume. We anticipate that reps will be representing one brand or the other.”
On where Jack’s Abby is strongest … “The vast majority of our sales are in New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. And then we do some smaller scale distribution down the eastern seaboard … all the way to Florida.”
Will Wormtown fill in those states? “In all likelihood, no.”