Two years after selling her startup to Anheuser-Busch InBev, Meg Gill, the co-founder of Los Angeles-based Golden Road Brewing, can’t imagine life without the support of the world’s largest beer company.
“There’s a lot of complexities involved with a big partner, but it’s been an amazing journey for us,” she recently told BevNET’s Taste Radio podcast.
Citing data from market research firm IRI Worldwide, Gill said sales of Golden Road beer at U.S. grocery chains were up nearly 300 percent in 2017.
“We are about triple the size we were when we sold,” she said, adding that Golden Road had expanded distribution to new markets but 80 percent of the company’s business is still conducted in California.
During the interview with BevNET CMO Mike Schneider and Brewbound editor Chris Furnari, Gill explained the process of launching, building and eventually selling Golden Road.
Gill also discussed what it’s like to be an entrepreneur within a large organization, and how she competes with other A-B brands for mindshare and marketing dollars.
“There’s a lot of work that can be done, if a brand is on fire, and A-B is certainly willing to do it if you can prove the case,” she said.
Listen to Gill’s interview on episode 90 of Taste Radio here.