Brewbound's Brew Talks Chicago -- Defining Small & Local

May. 4, 2015 at 7:26 PM

The phrase “small & local” gets tossed around a lot in craft these days. For years, many upstart craft brewers have leaned on these two messages as key differentiators from their larger, more resourced competitors, winning the attention of new drinkers along the way. But a flood have new craft category entrants in the last 24 months has forced companies that once relied on the “small & local” badge as a primary customer acquisition strategy to not only rethink the true meaning of each concept, but also to more clearly define their long-term goals, go-to market strategies, and distribution plans. With thousands of craft brewers all claiming to be “small & local,” how do breweries capture the attention (and loyalty) of drinkers while balancing the urge to grow rapidly and expand into new “non-local” markets?

During our Brew Talks Chicago meetup, hosted April 28 at Revolution Brewing, we dug into the matter with Wirtz Beverage’s craft beer manager, David Kahle; Pipeworks Brewing co-founder Beejay Oslon and Une Année founder Jerry Nelson.

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