A year after undergoing a change in ownership, Mission Brewery is getting a makeover. The San Diego craft brewery recently received a brand refresh courtesy of CODO Design, which has begun hitting retail shelves.
The process began at the start of the year, said CEO Dan Partelow, a veteran of Craft Brew Alliance and Anheuser-Busch InBev, who took the reins a year ago during the ownership change.
“From a consumer-facing standpoint, we had to get after the refresh, and we’re really happy with where it landed,” he said of the effort to create an uncluttered and organized visual identity.
Mission VP of sales and marketing Aaron Long described the company’s mindset as being “in total startup mode” after ushering in fresh leadership. The rebranding of packaging and logos has given the company a more “focused, contemporary look and feel.”
“Both the new packaging sizing and design are modernized to fit the ever changing craft market,” Long said. “Utilizing vibrant colors and exploration, nautical themes instead of the harsher look that was around in the earlier days of craft.”
Moving forward, Mission’s business will be focused on five core brands: Mission Blonde, Mission IPA West Coast IPA, Waves of Haze hazy IPA, Shipwrecked IPA, and Foggy Shores Hefeweizen.
From a volume standpoint, Mission Blonde leads in the on-premise and Shipwrecked in the off-premise lead the way, according to Long. In 2021, Mission produced an estimated 7,250 barrels of beer, a +4% year-over-year increase, according to data from the Brewers Association. However, Mission’s production has been cut nearly in half from 2017 when the brewery produced 14,250 barrels.
As part of the refresh, Mission is transitioning from 12 oz. cans to 16 oz. can 4-packs and introducing 19.2 oz. single-serve cans. Those moves have sparked more interest for the packages in independent liquor stores, while the 19.2 oz. cans are picking up business in venues and convenience and liquor stores. Partelow expects to can each of the top brands in the 19.2 oz. format for venues and convenience stores, which Mission had previously been unable to service.
Partelow and Long said the plan is to concentrate on its core offerings while drilling deep in its home market, concentrating on the San Diego and Southern California markets.
“We believe you have to win at home before you can find success in other markets,” Long said of the company’s go-to-market strategy heading into 2023. “The days of shot-gunning products into the market just because you have capacity are behind us.”
Finally, Mission is continuing to contract produce for brands such as Ashland Hard Seltzer. Partelow said Ashland is the biggest contract producer at Mission, but he expects the company to add more of its own volume into the mix over the next couple of years as the transition takes hold.
“As we retool the company, it’s an important piece of it,” Partelow said. “We think we’ll get further and further away from that over the next two or three years as we grow our core brands back up, but right now, we got to do it.”