Sierra Nevada Brewing Company chief commercial officer Joe Whitney will retire, effective January 5, 2024, according to a message shared by Ken Grossman late Friday.
Whitney spent 17 of his 35 years in the beer industry at the Chico, California-headquartered craft brewery.
Grossman said the announcement comes “with much gratitude” for Whitney, calling his 35-year career in the beer industry “impressive.”
“Joe has much to be proud of,” Grossman said. “He joined Sierra Nevada in 2006 as our first director of sales and marketing, developing our best-in-class sales team and building our marketing department from the ground up. Moving into the role of chief commercial officer in 2016, Joe added focus and sophistication to our go-to-market strategy and helped develop Sierra Nevada as a trusted supplier partner in the industry.
“We raise our glass to Joe in thanks and congratulations!”
Whitney’s retirement comes at a time of change at the top of Sierra Nevada and within the overall craft brewing industry.
Sierra Nevada CEO Jeff White retired earlier this year, with Grossman taking over as interim CEO. White had served as CEO since early 2019, becoming only the second CEO in the history of the 40-year-old craft brewery.
Sierra Nevada does not have plans to backfill Whitney’s role, while the search for the company’s third CEO “is underway” with the company hoping “to share more soon,” Grossman said.
“We started developing a succession plan several years ago, first bringing on a VP of sales and later a VP of marketing,” he said of the company’s plan to not backfill the role. “With these roles firmly in place, we are positioned to grow for years to come and do not plan to backfill the chief commercial officer role at this time.”
Sierra Nevada hired Ellie Preslar as VP of sales in December 2021, and promoted Lesley Albright to VP of marketing and communications in September 2022.
Sierra Nevada is the twelfth-largest beer category vendor in dollar sales in multi-outlet grocery and convenience stores tracked by market research firm Circana. Year-to-date through September 10, the brewery’s dollar sales have increased +1.1%, to $221 million, while its volume (measured in case sales) has declined -3.3% compared to the same period in 2022.
The brewery accounts for 0.69% of all beer category dollars spent at off-premise retailers tracked by Circana. It has a 4.38% share of volume of Brewers Association (BA)-defined craft beer.
In 2022, Sierra Nevada was the No. 3 largest craft brewer by volume, according to the BA. Its output declined -4%, to 1,062,495 barrels, according to the BA’s May/June issue of the New Brewer.