• 💰 BA Reports Industry Salary and Benefits Info
• 🍃 'Hemp Is Back' in NY
• 🎨 Q Mixers Rebrand
• 🧑‍⚖️ Alex Evans Suing Fellow Karben4 Co-Owners
• 🚛 Twea Thievery
• 🎃 CGA Impact Report Sneak Peek
• 🍎 New on Shelves: Angry Orchard Crisp Imperial

To be a successful contract brewer you need to consider the future possibilities…and current realities. Keys to success include knowing your costs, getting the team’s input and buy-in, defining your customer service plan, establishing quality specifications, and establishing a good contract. Learn more

The Brewers Association (BA) published its first Salary and Benefits Benchmarking Report since 2020.

Sixty breweries responded with information about 80 common industry jobs, representing 7,396 employees. 

Brewbound has compiled information about senior- and entry-level roles in the following disciplines: marketing, production, sales, warehouse management, quality and hospitality. 

Here are some of the highlights:

Branding/Marketing Director:

• Twenty-nine surveyed organizations employed 45 brand/marketing directors – 28 employed salaried workers and one employed hourly workers;
• Salaried employees made a weighted average of $110,745 a year;
• Salary percentiles: 25th ($85,000), 50th ($97,500) and 75th ($128,250).

Brewmaster:

• Twenty-six organizations reported data for 30 employees;
• All but one were salaried with an average weighted salary of $112,481;
• Salary percentiles: 25th ($75,000), 50th ($114,722), 75th ($135,000).

Field Sales Representative:

• More than 40 organizations provided data about 210 employees, 97.1% of whom were salaried;
• The weighted average salary was $57,529. 
• Salary percentiles: 25th ($52,250), 50th ($58,000), 75th ($65,250).

Warehouse/Distribution Handler:

• Twenty surveyed organizations employed 122 warehouse/distribution handlers – three employed salaried workers and 17 employed hourly workers. 
• There was no weighted average pay for salaried employees as there were less than five organizations with eligible employees.
• Hourly employees made a weighted average wage of $24.01 an hour.
• Hourly percentiles: 25th ($19.00), 50th ($27.39), 75th ($29.24).

Insiders can read more here, including brewery size-specific numbers.

In a significant win for the burgeoning industry, the New York Supreme Court ordered yesterday a preliminary injunction against the emergency measures that abruptly halted the sale of hemp-derived THC-infused products in August.

The order acknowledged that – caught between balancing the equities of regulators and petitioners – that the latter party should be favored because an injunction "would stave off the shuttering of their businesses."

The issue came to the fore this summer, when New York’s heavy-handed approach towards regulating the newly opened legal cannabis market inspired the wrath and frustration of beverage and edibles makers following the filing of emergency regulations by the state. 

The regulations sparked a legal response from Washington State-based cannabinoid seltzer brand Cycling Frog and trade group the Hemp Beverage Alliance, asking the courts for an injunction of the “ill-conceived emergency regulation.”

Insiders can read more from the latest update.

Premium cocktail mixer brand Q Mixers is debuting a vibrant new look for the second time in its 17-year history as it seeks to build a stronger connection with consumers both before and after purchase.

The updated packaging, which began rolling out this month, is aimed at establishing the brand as “bold and unapologetic” yet “approachable and elevated,” according to CMO Nicholas Wootten.

Wootten told BevNET: “Our products are notorious for their bold flavors and natural ingredients but our packaging was really sterile without any ownable traits and, in a lot of ways, it looked like a private label brand.

“It was critical that we update our brand ID and packaging to better represent [Q’s] flavors and ingredients.”

Q’s new packaging features bright, bold colors, abstract illustrations and flavor description callouts. Its first rebrand, unveiled in 2021, used product photography to drive consumer education but ultimately failed to stand out in an extremely saturated market.

Insiders can read more here.

Alex Evans, one of the owners of Karben4 Brewing, is suing his fellow co-owners, allegeding the handling of recent deals acquiring other brands’ intellectual property has been harmful to the Madison, Wisconsin-based craft brewery, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.

Evans, who owns 50% of Karben4, is claiming co-owners Ryan and Zak Koga – who are also brothers – “misappropriated corporate opportunities from Karben4,” when the duo bought the IP of Ale Asylum’s beers earlier this year, as well as a separate deal for Wisco Pop craft soda in January 2022. 

In the lawsuit, filed last week in Dane County Circuit Court, Evans alleges that the Kogas placed ownership of the IPs in separate companies from Karben4, then signed Karben4 on as the contract producer of the companies’ products, according to the report. 

The lawsuit claims: “As a result of these arrangements, the entities owned by Ryan and Zak, not Karben4, receive the full benefits from the sale of the Ale Asylum and Wisco Pop products.”

Evans is asking for the Kogas to merge the IPs into Karben4’s portfolio, and for compensation from damages.

Ryan and Zak Koga each own 20% of Karben4. Their father, John Koga, owns the remaining 10%, according to the lawsuit. 

Karben4 began producing other brands in the last couple of years as a way to combat soft volume from a slowed on-premise recovery, Zak Koga told Brewbound in March following the acquisition of Ale Asylum’s IPs.

At the time, Koga told Brewbound: “I don’t think we set out to be brand buyers, but we also aren’t afraid of it necessarily. It’s just got to be the right opportunities. I’m excited to see what we figure out over this year and next year, and how we evolve, and what that means for our brewery and our facility.

He added: “I’m also not out there like some venture capitalist trying to gobble things up. We’re letting things come to us and keeping our eyes open."

An estimated $800,000 worth of Twisted Tea was stolen from a Memphis distribution center last month, WREG Memphis reported.

City Brewing, a contract production partner for Boston Beer, allegedly shipped out 17-18 truckloads of hard tea – about 32,000 cases – on September 1 to the distribution center. The shipment was allegedly scanned as received.

City learned of the theft after it began to “receive phone calls from clients saying they had not received their products,” according to the report. 

The investigation is still ongoing.

Craft beer news was on fire this week.

Several leadership moves were announced, including the long awaited news on who will lead the next chapter of New Belgium Brewing. 

New Belgium CMO Shaun Belongie has been appointed CEO of the Fort Collins, Colorado-based craft brewery, overseeing its portfolio of brands, as well as strategies for its parent company Kirin-owned Lion LIttle World Beverages’ other U.S. bev-alc brands: Michigan-based Bell’s Brewery and Kansas-based Distinguished Vineyards. 

Indeed Brewing also promoted internally for its new leadership. Ryan Bandy, former director of experience, has been appointed chief business officer for the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based craft brewery, while founder and former CEO Tom Whisenand has moved into an advisory role and is pursuing a career as an airline pilot. 

Several craft deals were also announced this week:

• Ecliptic Brewing was sold to Great Frontier Holdings, the craft beverage platform formed earlier this year by the merger of Ninkasi Brewing and Wings & Arrow;
• Smuttynose parent company Finestkind Brewing acquired Five Boroughs Brewing Co., with production shifting to Smuttynose’s facility in Hampton, New Hampshire.

And Denver’s Great Divide and Aurora, Colorado’s Dry Dock Brewing have formed a strategic partnership, with Great Divide taking over production of both companies’ offerings.

Drinking outlets recorded a +4% bump in sale velocity the Sunday of Halloween weekend versus an average Sunday this year, according to CGA, a NIQ-powered on-premise market research firm, in its latest Impact Report.

The velocity increased was driven by a +8% increase in traffic. 

Sports bars in particular saw an extra holiday boost, with velocity up +10% on Sunday, October 29 versus an average Sunday. 

Looking ahead to Veterans Day this weekend, on-premise outlets should also see a boost should last year’s trends hold. In 2022, the Friday of Veterans Day weekend recorded a +6% increase in sales velocity versus an average Friday that year, while Saturday recorded a +5% boost. 

Stay tuned for more from the report, including key state performances in the latest weeks.

During a meeting with California wholesalers last month, Boston Beer company leadership detailed 2024 plans for its brands, including a renewed focus on Angry Orchard hard cider.

Included in the plans for Angry Orchard is the extension of its flagship Crisp Apple into a brand family, starting with Crisp Imperial, hitting shelves now.

Boston Beer wrote in a press release: “Clocking in at 8% ABV, Crisp Imperial featured the Crisp Apple flavor drinkers know and love, now with an added edge. It's perfect for those looking to kick things up a notch at holiday parties, or just kick back with friends and family.”

Angry Orchard also launched a new Knotty Bunch limited edition variety pack this month, featuring Crisp Apple and three new flavors: Cranberry Pomegranate, Ginger and Crisp Light.

The full agenda for the 2023 Brewbound Live business conference is now available, featuring nearly 40 speakers from beverage-alcohol suppliers, wholesalers, retailers, data providers and advisory firms.

Industry leaders will meet at the Marina del Rey Marriott for two days of business conversations, networking and relationship building on December 6 and 7. Tickets are available now.

The conference provides actionable takeaways to solidify your business in a tumultuous operating environment, with a specific eye toward unlocking growth and building an inclusive industry community.

Topics include:

• Evolving leadership;
• Maintaining focus;
• Future-proofing flagship brands;
• Partnering with wholesalers;
• The state of the on-premise;
• M&A currents;
• Diversity in the craft industry;
• Beyond beer growth;
• Flavor innovation;
• And much more.

The speaker lineup features:

• Leaders from top craft breweries: Rhinegeist, WeldWerks, Bell’s, New Belgium, Firestone Walker, Great Notion, Rogue, CANarchy, Karl Strauss, Three Weavers, Crowns & Hops and Lawson’s Finest Liquids;
• Leading fourth-category and beyond producers: Molson Coors (Happy Thursday, Simply Spiked) BeatBox, BuzzBallz, Fishers Island, Owl’s Brew, Stateside Vodka Liquid Death and Hella Cocktail Co.;
• Major retailers: Mellow Mushroom and Extra Mile;
• Wholesalers: Stone Distributing and Breakthru Beverage Group;
• Data providers: 3 Tier Beverages, Bump Williams Consulting and NIQ;
• Investment banks: Arlington Capital Advisors;
• Advisory firms: The E-Premise Group;
• Trade associations: The National Black Brewers Association, The Brewers Association and The National Beer Wholesalers Association.

See the full schedule and speaker lineup here.