We now know who will lead the next chapter of New Belgium Brewing. Chief marketing officer Shaun Belongie has been named the next CEO of New Belgium, effective immediately, taking the spot left vacant by Steve Fechheimer earlier this year.
Upper Hand Brewery, opened by Bell’s Brewery founder Larry Bell in 2014, is about to change hands. Kirin-owned New Belgium acquired Escanaba, Michigan-based Upper Hand when it merged with Bell’s in 2021.
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.
New Belgium will take over production of Kirin Ichiban and Kirin Light in the U.S. when the Japanese lager brand’s contract brewing agreement with Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) expires later this year, New Belgium announced today. New Belgium is a subsidiary of Kirin-owned, Australian-based Lion.
New Belgium Brewing Company has appointed Rich Rush as its next chief sales officer.
News broke late yesterday that New Belgium has named Rebecca Dye Yonushonis as the company’s next CMO, filling the vacancy left by Shaun Belongie when he was appointed CEO last fall.
New Belgium shuttered its San Francisco taproom today, after nearly three years in business, the company announced.
Los Angeles-based Open Brewing has begun rolling its lager out in Southern California thanks in part to a business partnership with New Belgium Brewing. In addition to a minority investment, New Belgium contract brews Open’s beer, consults the brewery’s team and offers other “shared resources,” a New Belgium spokesperson told Brewbound.
Industry executives gathered for Beer Business Daily’s annual Beer Industry Summit in Coronado, California, earlier this week. New Belgium continued to dominate craft scans in 2023, led by its Voodoo Ranger brand family, which claimed six spots in Circana’s list of the top 30 craft brands by dollar sales in tracked off-premise channels. As the company faces the comps – including multiple double-digit gains – New Belgium will not rest on its laurels, new CEO Shaun Belongie said on stage Sunday.
Bell’s Brewery flagship Two Hearted IPA is getting some company on shelves. The Comstock, Michigan-headquartered brewery has elevated Hazy Hearted IPA (7.5% ABV) to nationwide distribution and Big Hearted IPA (9.5% ABV) to year-round distribution in select markets.
New Belgium’s Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA (Voodoo Ranger) is now the No. 1 craft beer by dollar sales in the convenience channel, passing Molson Coors’ Blue Moon Belgian White (Blue Moon), according to data firm Circana’s monthly beer report. Voodoo Ranger has increased c-store dollar sales +14.8%, to more than $81 million year-to-date (YTD), ending November 5. The IPA now has 5.84% share of total craft beer dollar sales in the channel.
One-third of the top 30 craft brands recorded gains in both dollar sales and volume in Circana-tracked multi-outlet grocery and convenience stores in the 12-week period ending September 10, which includes the bulk of the summer selling season.
Steve Fechheimer, who led New Belgium Brewing Company to unprecedented growth, will depart the company in August after six years to “explore new challenges.”
Production at craft breweries falling outside of the Brewers Association’s (BA) craft brewer definition collectively declined -4% on a comparable basis, to more than 8.68 million barrels in 2022, according to data shared by the trade group in the May/June edition of the New Brewer Magazine.
Expect more Voodoo Ranger beers to flood the market. New Belgium Brewing has struck an agreement to acquire the Daleville, Virginia-based production facility Constellation Brands built in 2017.
