New Belgium Brewing eliminated the roles of seven employees Thursday as part of a reorganization of its sales and marketing structure, a spokesperson told Brewbound.
One affected employee was in marketing, while the rest were in sales. The cuts came as New Belgium, which includes sister brand Bell’s Brewery under its umbrella, reduced its internal structure from four divisions to two.
“The new, simplified structure aligns leadership across the teams and streamlines current communications and processes to better serve and support distributors and national retailers moving forward,” the spokesperson said.
The restructuring aims “to lay a stronger foundation of support and to carry the momentum of our growing business into the future,” the spokesperson continued.
Under the new two-division structure, “several open positions” will come online in the next few weeks, which affected employees will be able to apply for.
The job cuts are less than one-third of the size of the round of layoffs New Belgium went through in 2022, as it combined workforces with Bell’s following the companies’ merger under parent company Kirin.
Year-to-date (YTD) through July 14, dollar sales of the New Belgium, Bell’s and Kirin portfolio have increased +13.7%, to $377.1 million, at off-premise retailers tracked by market research firm Circana. The brands’ volume, measured in case sales, increased +11.1% compared to the same period last year.
Those trends are decelerating to high-single-digit gains, as the company’s dollar sales have increased +8.8% in dollar sales and +6.5% in volume in the four-week period ending July 14 (L4W).
New Belgium’s once seemingly unstoppable Voodoo Ranger brand family may have found the ceiling of some of its SKUs. Voodoo Ranger IPA’s dollar sales have declined -11.2% YTD in dollar sales and -12.2% in volume, according to Circana. Voodoo Ranger Juicy Haze IPA’s dollar sales declined -20.3% in dollar sales and -21.1% in volume YTD through July 14.
Fat Tire, New Belgium’s flagship beer before the Voodoo Ranger family was introduced, has struggled to find its footing after a total makeover in early 2023. Fat Tire has recorded steep YTD declines in both dollar sales (-30.3%) and volume (-30.9%), according to Circana.
In the Bell’s portfolio, flagship Two Hearted Ale has increased dollar sales by +1.2%, but declined -0.2% in volume YTD through July 14. Bell’s seasonal family is down in both dollar sales (-3.2%) and volume (-5.6%).
Editor’s note: this story was updated at 7:40 p.m. ET on August 15 to reflect how many employees in each department were affected.