66 Beverage Dynamics • March/April 2015
www.beveragedynamics.com
T
he local nature of craft beer has always been one of its
most appealing features. Indeed, in the earliest days of the
American craft beer movement, all craft beer was local by
defi nition, as pioneering entrepreneurs opened small companies to
produce an alternative to the national brands.
Three decades later, a few successful, long-established craft brew-
ers have achieved national scale with their beers. But the bulk of craft
brewers have remained relatively small and, consequently,
local in their distribution. And, because these businesses
have to start small, the newest brewing companies are also
local in character.
According to the Brewers Association, the highest rate of growth
in the craft beer category is among the microbreweries—companies
producing fewer than 15,000 barrels annually. And although their
volume on a national scale may be negligible, a local brewer can
occupy a very visible position in their home market.
The interest in all things local is such that the retailer's challenge
is not how to fuel the enthusiasm, but how to keep up with and
capitalize on it.
Jack Bondon, vice president of Berbiglia Wine and Spirits, over-
sees nine stores in the greater Kansas City, MO, area. He draws a
contrast between new launches from major brewing companies and
those from local players. "When larger breweries—InBev or Miller-
Coors—try something new, they invest in it, they advertise, they push
the beer into the market. Whereas, when the local breweries do it,
it's like the beer is pulled into the market by the consumers."
The attraction, as he sees it, is one part home team loyalty and
one part love of novelty—local brewers being the inevitable source
of more experimental brews that either are produced in
very small volumes or, frankly, fail before they reach a
larger market.
"We try to stay up with the local breweries, to fi gure
out the next thing that they're going to bring to the market," Bon-
don explains. "It's a challenge as a retailer to stay on top of that. But
if you fall behind and you're not carrying the next new thing, the
beers become passé and you're missing sales."
BUILDING A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP
What is the best way for retailers to take advantage of the "pull"
exerted by local beers? Successful retailers build relationships with
breweries that translate into better experiences for customers.
Where the laws allow, in-store tastings are a powerful draw for
BY JULIE
JOHNSON
Selling local beers.
HOMETOWN BREWS
T
Peco's Liquor Store in
Wilmington, DE