Craft brewers unite
As part of Craft Brewers, Kona will be able to expand its brand and distribution while maintaining its craft brewery operations in Hawaii. Kona beer for mainland distribution will continue to be brewed by Widmer and Redhook.
“This is a way to expand and strengthen our portfolio to wholesalers and retailers”, said Kurt Widmer, co-founder of Widmer Brothers Brewing, “because the more diverse your portfolio is, the better your chance of getting great beer to beer drinkers. This will enable us to take the Kona brand to more places in the country, primarily beyond the Northwest.”
Kona’s flagship beer is its Longboard Lager, and it brewed 113,000 barrels of beer (132,000 hl) last year, making it Hawaii’s largest brewer and the country’s 13th largest craft brewery.
Craft Brewers is one of the larger brewing groups in the country, although the definition is disputed by many craft brewers because AB-InBev has an ownership stake in Widmer and Redhook.
Widmer produced 286,000 barrels (334,000 hl) of beer in 2009 and Redhook 184,000 barrels (215,000 hl). Adding Kona’s production puts the company at 583,000 barrels (682,000). Stock market-listed Boston Beer, the country’s largest craft brewer and maker of Sam Adams beers, brewed about 2 million barrels (2.3 million hl) in 2009.
Despite the economic crisis, U.S. craft brewers, on the whole, tend to do better than their larger rivals. Dollar sales grew 12 percent in the first six months of 2010 compared to 9 percent during the same period in 2009. Volume of craft brewed beer sold grew 9 percent for the first six months in 2010, compared to 5 percent growth in the first half of 2009, the Brewers Association, which represents the majority of U.S. brewing companies, reported in August 2010.
Barrels sold by craft brewers for the first half of the year are an estimated 4.6 million (5.4 million hl), compared to 4.2 million barrels sold in the first half of 2009.
“While craft brewer sales volume climbed 9 percent in the first half of 2010, overall U.S. beer industry volume sales are down 2.7 percent so far,” noted Paul Gatza, Director of the Brewers Association.
The U.S. now boasts 1,625 breweries – an increase of 100 additional breweries since July of 2009 – and the highest number in 100 years. A century ago in 1910, consolidation and the run-up to Prohibition had reduced the number of breweries to 1,498.
