Partake Brewing has promoted chief commercial officer Evan Cohen as president to lead the Toronto-headquartered non-alcoholic beer (NA) maker through its next growth phase.
Ted Fleming, who founded the company in 2017, will transition to the role of chief operating officer, focusing on innovation.
“We’ve hit an exciting inflection point in our growth and consumer demand.” Fleming said in a press release. “Elevating Evan to his new role is a reflection of this growth and will most certainly help us achieve our business goals.”
Speaking to Brewbound, Cohen said his hiring was aimed at adding an experienced U.S. beer industry executive to the Canadian headquartered company.
Cohen has more than 25 years of sales and marketing experience at beverage-alcohol, fast food and ad agencies, including Molson Coors (then MillerCoors), Sazerac’s 375 Park Avenue Spirits division, Burger King and Leo Burnett, among others. He joined Partake in January as CCO. As president, he’ll be tasked with overseeing the business’ U.S. and Canadian “marketing, sales, innovation, brand partnerships, and finance” operations.
Meanwhile, Fleming will lead operations with a focus on innovation and new product development.
“I’ve taken much more of a commercial lead, much more of a focus on helping to run the overall business,” Cohen said. “Where Ted’s passion really revolves is around the products, product quality, innovation and then also spreading the gospel, if you will, around Partake.”
Additionally, Partake has promoted head of marketing Sara Ross to the role of VP of marketing. Ross spearheaded Partake’s brand refresh, which has begun rolling out over the last 30 days.
Ross started at Partake one year ago and has become an integral part of Partake’s leadership. Cohen said he will work with Ross to bring the brand refresh to life through the rest of the year and into 2024.
The leadership moves come as NA beer continues to post double-digit growth in scan data. Year-to-date through July 16, off-premise dollar sales of NA beer are up +31.4%, to nearly $191.5 million, while volume (measured in case sales) is up +19.5%, according to market research firm Circana. The segment has also gained 0.17% share, to a 0.78% dollar share of beer.
Partake is outpacing the segment this year, growing volume, value and share, Cohen said. What’s encouraging about Partake’s growth is that the brand’s velocity is growing in addition to its distribution expansion, he added.
“Velocity is a telltale sign of brand health,” Cohen said. “So being able to drive both our distribution and our velocity to get to our volume yield is something that’s really encouraging. It shows our brand is resonating with our consumers and our partners are motivated to move the brands, whereas if all of our growth were just coming out of distribution that tells a very different story.”
In North America, Partake is a 400,000-case business, he added. Canada represents about 70% of the company’s volume.
Last year in the U.S., Partake sold around 100,000 cases via its direct, e-commerce and direct-store-delivery business. This year, the company is on pace to add around 50,000 cases if things go according to plan, Cohen said.
Partake’s is running a two-pronged approach to both of its North American markets. In Canada, the company’s focus is on maintaining its position as the top NA beer by units and dollars by expanding consumer occasions, innovating and marketing locally, Cohen said.
In the U.S., Partake’s strategy is to drive awareness and exposure to reach new consumers, building the brand locally, Cohen added. Although Partake’s NA beer is distributed in 22 states and Washington, D.C., the company is “leaning heavily into” six core markets – California, Colorado, Virginia, Maryland, Illinois and Massachusetts – with its people and resources.
Looking ahead, Cohen believes the biggest growth opportunities for the NA beer segment are in creating occasions as the product is accepted into celebratory moments. For Partake, the majority of its consumption is taking place at-home or in small group settings with family and friends. So the company is focusing on off-premise grocery and liquor business, which “tend to cater better to those needs,” Cohen said.
“Our goal right now, given that we’re private equity [backed], is about developing the brand the right way, both from a consumer standpoint and from a distribution standpoint,” Cohen said. “Profit will come at the right time.”