We took a page out of the Great British Bake Off’s playbook last week and called it BA Week. The Brewers Association (BA) – the trade group that represents the nations’ small and independent craft brewers – made a LOT of news last week. The BA’s revenue declined -2%, to $22,914,025, in 2023, according to its annual report, which was released last week. Nearly all revenue sources declined, including its largest driver, event revenue (-2%, to $13,886,191), followed by membership dues (-2%, to $4,268,747). Advertising and sponsorship, the BA’s third-largest source of revenue, was roughly flat at $3,413,383. The BA’s publication of its annual report aligned with the first meeting of its 2024 board of directors, which elected Leah Cheston as its chairwoman. Leah is the co-owner of Washington, D.C.-based Right Proper Brewing and the first pub brewer representative to lead the board. She’s also only the second woman to hold the leadership position, after New Belgium co-founder Kim Jordan’s 2005-2007 tenure. Other board leaders elected include vice chair and treasurer Chris Herron (Creature Comforts in Athens, Georgia) and secretary Melissa Romano (Lake Anne Brewhouse in Reston, Virginia). The board also made changes to its own future makeup (details in the link). AHA members’ 2024 plans will look a little different: Homebrew Con, the organization’s annual educational and social gathering, has been put on hiatus. Instead of existing as a standalone event in June, aspects of Homebrew Con have been woven into the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in October. To round out BA Week, Brewbound reporter Zoe Licata spent a bit of time with BA chief economist Bart Watson’s recent analysis of craft price elasticity. Bart wrote: “Overall price inflation and the proliferation of choices within craft, coupled with lots of new competition in beverage alcohol, has clearly made some consumers think about price more in their purchasing decisions. Including, price elasticity has gone up.” To measure the impact of price elasticity in the on-premise, Watson looked at pint pricing, citing data from Arryved, a craft-centric point-of-sale (POS) provider. In 2023, the average price of a pint of craft beer increased +4.6% year-over-year (YoY), according to Watson. However, when looking at price increases by location, price increases vary significantly. In other craft beer news, Saint Paul, Minnesota-based Fair State Brewing Cooperative filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. A court filing reveals the company owes about $5.16 million to as many as 199 creditors. Founder and CEO Evan Sallee wrote: “This does not mean we are shutting down – we are just restructuring our debt and will emerge on the other side stronger for it. The simple fact is that the pandemic put Fair State in a hole that we need help to dig out of, and we have a solid plan to get through this together so we can continue making the great beer you know and love.” Boston Beer has dropped the lawsuit that it filed against former employee Brian Soudant. The company sued Soudant in the fall for allegedly violating his non-compete agreement and misappropriation of trade secrets when he took a job at Angry Orchard competitor Boston-based Downeast Cider. Boston Beer’s lawsuit against Downeast is still in progress. Former Stone Brewing CEO Maria Stipp will take the reins at Suja Life this week, when she becomes the CEO of the cold-pressed juice and shot maker. Interim CEO Zach Keeling is leading Stone following her departure, which was announced last month. More stories from last week can be found on Brewbound.com, including the latest Consumer Price Index report, craft Circana numbers for the start of 2024, Molson Coors Q4 earnings results, spirits-based innovation plans at Two Robbers and much more. | 
