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Uncle Nearest Distillery founder and CEO Fawn Weaver disregarded the advice of the spirits industry’s old heads on the way to building a billion-dollar brand, she shared during her fireside chat with Crowns and Hops Brewing co-founder and CEO Beny Ashurn on the opening day of the 2024 Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) in Las Vegas.

“Literally every single thing that everyone told me, ‘This is what you do not do,’ we did,”  Weaver said.

The path less traveled for Weaver included launching in control states when others suggested that she start in open states; expanding distribution nationwide within two years when others told her to try to focus on her home state for five to seven years before expanding; and leaning into awards instead of a brand story, when others told her that no one cares about awards. 

She said: “No person of color has ever succeeded [in the industry]. No woman at the top has ever been at the top. So why would I listen to what has always worked?”

Five years later, Weaver is lauded for her success in building the Uncle Nearest brand. The road to more than 1,100 awards for a brand that celebrates the story of the first known African-American master distiller is about being authentic and representing women and people of color in a predominantly white male dominated business, Weaver shared.

Weaver said: “I realized that if I could break through every ceiling, every barrier in this white male industry, that everybody else can do it in every other industry. So I wasn’t representing hope for the spirits industry; I was representing women and people of color, period.”

Weaver’s true role as the driving force behind Uncle Nearest didn’t become public until 2019. And even then, the fact that the company was women-led and Black-owned didn’t come out until 2020.

“Why? Because the juice can speak for itself. And if all ego is cast aside – don’t care what my color is, don’t care what my gender is – and if all of that wasn’t put aside so the juice spoke for itself, I would not be sitting here right now.”

Through its growth period, Uncle Nearest has remained independent and resisted investment from strategics and private equity, including a $2 billion offer for the company, Weaver claimed. Instead, the company has relied on investment from 170 individual investors. 

The decision to lean on individual investors has created 170 brand ambassadors who act as “an extension of myself,” Weaver said. And they have helped secure multiple national accounts. 

Over the last year, Uncle Nearest has turned into an acquirer. In October 2023, the company acquired cognac maker Domaine Saint Martin. The company appears poised for more deal making, as Weaver teased an acquisition of a craft spirit brand – one that attempted to stay small but ultimately will be sold to Uncle Nearest once due diligence is completed in the coming weeks. 

She continued: “With craft distillers, there’s always been this pride in staying small. The company that I’m acquiring – phenomenal company that was trying to stay small. The problem is you stay small too long, you will die or you will have to be acquired, and you will be acquired at a loss because you never had a goal or a dream to be bigger.” 

Weaver hinted that tequila may be in her company’s future, adding that if you see her in Jalisco, Mexico, “know that I’m putting down roots.”

Brewbound Insiders can read more from Weaver on challenging the notion of being small, the difference in growth trajectories between craft brewers and distillers and being authentic to yourself and your business. 

Brewers Association president and CEO Bob Pease acknowledged that the craft segment has hit some headwinds in recent years as “growth and profitability are hard to come by,” during the opening speech of the 2024 Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) in Las Vegas. 

However, he cited several “bright spots,” including 44% of breweries in the trade group’s annual production survey reporting growth last year, which points to growth among craft’s long tail of breweries. 

Other bright spots included: 

• The number of craft breweries in operation in 2023 reaching an all-time high at 9,683; 
• A +1.1% increase in the number of workers directly employed by craft breweries to 190,000 workers; 
• And consumer spending on craft beer increased +3%. 

Pease also noted that the closing rate was “low, at just over 4%.” He called those bright spots “a testament to your hard work and grit.”

The speech also touched on the work of the trade organization’s staff, including the government affairs team, which has fought excise tax increases, worked to protect the excise tax cuts within the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act and advocated for direct-to-consumer shipping via the U.S. Postal Service. 

Pease warned of “the growing threat of neo-prohibitionist groups,” whose influence could be felt within the update of the U.S. dietary guidelines by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services in 2025. He assured brewers that the BA has their back on the issue.

As for the host city and state, Pease highlighted the “thriving craft beer scene” in Las Vegas, noting that there are 53 small and independent craft breweries in Nevada that collectively contributed $551 million in economic impact.

The 2025 CBC will take place in Indianapolis April 28 to May 1.

Grocery chains Kroger and Albertsons have added more store locations and assets to an updated version of their definitive divestiture agreement with C&S Wholesalers, two months after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) completed a review of the proposed supermarket mega-merger and filed a lawsuit to block the deal. 

The new agreement is valued at approximately $2.9 billion, according to a press release, and includes an additional 166 Kroger and Albertsons stores, bringing the total planned store divestments in relation to the merger  to 579. Kroger and Albertsons have previously claimed they can divest up to 650 stores to C&S.

The majority of divested stores are coming from the West Coast with both retailers selling a combined 124 in Washington state. However, Albertsons will contribute the majority of the stores through the new plan, including 101 in Arizona, 91 in Colorado, 63 in California and 62 in Oregon. A number of Albertsons banners will also be sold in Texas, Louisiana, Nevada, Illinois, Arkansas, Idaho, New Mexico, Montana, Utah and Wyoming.

Kroger will divest stores in Oregon, Illinois, and nine Harris Teeter stores between Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and Washington, D.C. Per terms of the deal, all divested stores, regardless of banner, will be sold by Kroger to C&S. Additionally, fuel centers and pharmacies at divested locations will remain part of those stores and continue to operate.

C&S CEO Eric Winn said in the announcement: “We are confident this expanded divestiture package will provide the stores, supporting assets and expert operators needed to ensure these stores continue to successfully serve their communities for many generations to come.”

Insiders can read more about the divestiture plan here.

Pernod Ricard-owned Corby Spirit and Wine has agreed to purchase ready-to-drink cocktail (RTD) brand Nude for $8 million ($11 million CAD). Corby is Canada’s second largest marketer and distributor of spirits and wines. 

The deal marks a continuation of Pernod Ricard’s ambitious growth strategy in the Canadian RTD segment. Last June, Pernod Ricard acquired a 90% stake in Canadian RTD company ABG for $124 million.

The latest transaction, made through ABG, accelerates the group’s “path to leadership” of the category by scooping up more market share in Western Canada.

ABG CEO Cam McDonald said in a press release: “Nude’s standing as a key RTD player in the Western Canadian market perfectly complements our existing position in Ontario, paving the way for a national platform to introduce cutting-edge RTD innovations to consumers nationwide.” 

Founded slightly ahead of the RTD boom, Vancouver-based Nude Beverages was created with a “better-for-you” vision within the flavored malt beverage and RTD space. Its first 5% ABV, sugar-free and sweetener-free vodka soda entered the market in 2017. The company has since expanded with several line extensions and new brands, including Los Flamingos and Slappy’s.

Insiders can read more about ABG’s founding and Canada’s RTD segment.

Dollar sales of Constellation Brands’ Modelo brand family’s increased +7.5%, to $95.7 million, for the week ending April 14, nudging Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (A-B) Bud brand family out of the beer category’s top spot for the week, according to market research firm Circana. 

The Bud family’s dollar sales declined -12.2%, to $94.4 million, for the week, which cycled the early days of the conservative-led boycott that tanked Bud Light’s sales last year.

Category-wide, dollar sales declined -3% year-over-year (YoY), slightly offset by a +2% increase in the import segment, Circana reported.

Other beer category highlights include double-digit YoY growth for Boston Beer’s Twisted Tea (+10.5%), Constellation’s Pacifico (+23.3%), Mark Anthony Brands’ Cayman Jack (+14.5%), Geloso’s Clubtails (+12.8%), Monster Brewing (+30.1%). 

Today is Day 2 of the Craft Brewers Conference in Las Vegas.

The Brewbound team is continuing conversations with attendees today at booth 1989. Yesterday’s lineup included conversations with Icicle Brewing founder and BA board member Pam Brulotte (pictured above), Michael James Jackson Foundation director of operations Breeze Galindo, ReserveBar CEO Derek Correai and more. 

Stay tuned for those interviews in the coming weeks.