Last month, nearly 200 beer industry professionals converged on New York City for the Brewbound Session business conference and videos from the event are now available for viewing.
Held on June 15 at the at the Metropolitan West, the summer 2017 edition of our bi-annul business conference featured a variety of thought-provoking conversations with craft brewery founders, interactive panel discussions with retailers and distributors, and engaging presentations from the likes of Nielsen, First Beverage Group and Harpoon Brewery.
If you weren’t able to watch this year’s conference, or if you were hoping to revisit individual presentations, here’s what you’ll find over on the Brewbound YouTube Channel.
Harpoon Brewery co-founder and CEO Dan Kenary kicked things off with a presentation that outlined the strategic moves his company has made over the last five years to better position itself for continued long-term success in an ultra-crowded craft beer landscape.
Then, Nielsen’s Danny Brager and Caitlyn Battaglia revealed the findings of the 2,000-person (adults 21+) Harris Poll survey, co-developed by Brewbound and Nielsen, examining whether 29 popular buzzwords used to market beer are resonating with regular craft beer drinkers.
The results showed that 81 percent of craft beer consumers were familiar with the terms “independent” and “independently owned.” The next most recognized word to beer drinkers: “traditional.”
Also during the morning portion of the conference, executives from prominent beer-centric retail chains Yard House, Old Chicago (Craftworks Restaurants & Breweries) and World of Beer discussed the growth of brewery taprooms, on-premise trends and their individual buying strategies.
Additionally, three leading craft brewery founders and executives – Bell’s Brewery CEO Laura Bell, Founders Brewing Company CEO and co-founder Mike Stevens and Heavy Seas founder Hugh Sisson –took the stage to discuss the evolution of the beer category, and how their businesses are adapting to a rapidly changing environment.
“We’re having growing pains,” Sisson said of the industry. “Typically when you’re having growing pains, shit happens. And we’re in that shit happens moment now. I’m still pretty bullish, but now it’s time to up your game.”
Also joining the program were a trio of “distribution disruptors” who examined the ways in which the middle tier is evolving, and First Beverage Group managing partner Townsend Ziebold, who broke down the current state of craft beer investment.
“There is no question that 2014, ’15 and ’16 were what they call a ‘seller’s market,’” Ziebold said. “But I do think the market has changed.”
If you missed out on attending the 2017 Brewbound Session in NYC, and are interested in joining us for the next round on Nov. 29 in Santa Monica, take advantage of early registration pricing by signing up for the event today.