Dear Mainland… Kona Voyaging Awards

SUMMER 2016
A note from Dan Partelow, VP National Sales
As many of you know, CBA’s partnership strategy started before we were
even formed. Back when Widmer Brothers and Redhook recognized the
immense growth – from production to distribution to sales volume —
that each brewery could realize by uniting their resources. Today, that
commitment to partnerships remains one of our biggest competitive
advantages, and we’re excited to continue working with you and your
teams to drive success.
running high, but we’re ready to fill
those backyard coolers and poolroom
fridges with your support.
We also want to thank all of our partners in advance for what we know
will be a phenomenal summer selling season. The temperatures are
Have a fantastic July 4th and cheers
to a great summer together!
We hope you enjoy the latest
BREWnews, and don’t miss this
quarter’s wholesaler highlight with
Nevada Beverage Co.!
Dear Mainland…
Everybody’s favorite Hawaiian ‘bruddahs’ are back this
summer, reminding mainlanders about the finer points of the
island lifestyle and inviting them to bring more (liquid) aloha
into their lives. If you liked the first Dear Mainland ads, you’re
going to love these latest three, which are running in core
Kona media markets—San Diego, Sacramento, Seattle and
Orlando —all through summer. Click below to watch!
“Little Friday.” Why wait for TGIF?
“FOMO.” A cure for Fear of Missing Out.
“Itself.” Umm, you might be hitting the wrong to-do list.
Kona Voyaging Awards
Celebrate our Paddlers
Ancient Hawaiians were
the most advanced
navigators the world has
ever seen, and they had
this cool philosophy that
basically said working
together was the best way
to move the canoe
forward. Similarly, Kona’s
success is the culmination of
many people paddling
together, which is why Kona
has kicked off a new award
to recognize the “Kona Voyager of the Month.” All of us are encouraged to
nominate people who we think are contributing to Kona’s massive wave of
success. Send your nominations to nominations@konabrewingco.com,
along with a photo and up to 100 words on why that person deserves the
award. Winners announced monthly!
Lemongrass Luau Goes National
As temperatures across the nation rise, beer drinkers from coast to coast are
enjoying Kona’s smooth and refreshing Lemongrass Luau, the crisp summer
seasonal in the Aloha Series. Beloved in Hawaii for its unique lemongrass
zing, this is Lemongrass Luau’s first ride on the Mainland... Quenching thirst
in six packs and on draft across the U.S., Lemongrass Luau also made
Thrillist’s list of the best summer beers; read it here.
Portland Gives Hefe a Day,
We Throw Massive Party
You know you’re important when there’s a day named after you. Portland’s
City Council recognized the impact that Kurt and Rob Widmer and their
Prost to 1st Beer Brewed in
PDX New Pilot Brewery
We just tapped Lil
Brother, a Düsseldorf
style Altbier, and the
very first beer brewed
on our brand new PDX
innovation brewing
system! Think of it as
the lighter bodied ‘lil
brother’ to Alt, Widmer
Brothers’ first beer.
Delicious, with a moderate bitterness, and
spicy noble hop flavor
– and just like that, our
new system is officially
brewing!
Beervana’s Ode to Hefe
Original American
Hefeweizen have made
on the City of Roses
by naming May 15th
Hefe Day. CBA’s entire
Board of Directors
and ELT attended
the proclamation at
Portland City Hall last
month (check out the
family pic). How did we
thank the city? With
a massive free party
in Pioneer Square,
complete with $1 Hefe
cans and live bands.
If you’ve ever wondered just how important Hefe is in the history of craft
beer, you’ll want to read two recent posts by Jeff Alworth, creator of the
Beervana blog and author of “The Beer
Bible.” In one post, he submits a “reconsideration” of Hefe in recognition of its 30th
anniversary, calling it Portland’s “first breakthrough beer.” And a second post features a
collection of people’s first experiences with
Hefe that will make you pull out the tissues.
PART ONE. PART TWO.
Have Hefe, Will Travel
Last month Rob and the marketing team loaded up the Hefe trailer and
headed out on the first of several tours across Oregon. The inaugural
route? Multnomah Falls, Hood River, Timberline Lodge and longtime Hefe
Don’t miss our recap
here and this fantastic
video recap from
Northwest News here.
Mens Journal Spotlights
Hefe Shandy
Launched last summer, Hefe Shandy is
already a top 10 craft beer in Oregon, and
the refreshing brew is gaining popularity
nationwide. In fact, Men’s Journal—the
go-to magazine for manly things like the
outdoors, fitness, and style,
recently recommended four
great shandy picks for the
summer. Of course, Hefe Shandy
was on the list – noted for its
Lemongrass hops and citrus ‘bite.’
accounts in Government Camp. Rob and Barb handed out free Hefe cans
at each stop, creating some great memories for craft beer fans. The textto-win camper giveaway program ran from April 1st thru May 30th, and one
lucky Oregonian will drive it home this September.
PAGE 2
Redhook American Pale Ale
Here for July 4th
Backyard barbecues rejoice!
Redhook’s new American Pale
Ale – decked out in red, white
and blue packaging – is hitting
shelves just in time for the 4th
of July. Says Nick Crandall, “our
APA is a nice balance of lemon
notes with bitterness up front
and a bright grassy finish.”
Perfect for summer, fall, winter
and spring, the new beer is the
latest addition to Redhook’s
year-round lineup.
Redhook
Classic Always
in Style
Redhook’s classic packaging, a
tribute to the brewery’s earliest days
as the OG of craft beers, is now in
markets nationwide. Other reasons
Redhook fans are heading into their
favorite local? The new Redhook
Hook Pack launched in stores
featuring the new Summerhook
themed seasonal call out. Winterhook
and Blackhook Hook Packs will
launch in T3 and T1 next year.
It’s Summerhook Time
Redhook kicked off summer
in Seattle with the launch
of Summerhook, our new
seasonal golden rye ale
(4.7% ABV) featuring rye malt,
crisp hoppiness, and bright
citrus notes. To celebrate,
we hosted a VIP experience
earlier this month at the
Fremont Solstice Fair
with a Rooftop Party at the
Fremont Foundry featuring
Summerhook, local eats,
entertainment, and music.
Redhook Launches Seattle
Original Campaign
Redhook’s new media
campaign picks up
on the brand’s rich
heritage in a city of
originals. Emerald
City locals will recognize other Seattle
Originals, real-life
Seattle superhero Phoenix
Jones and Seattle’s own
King of Rock ’n’ Roll, El Vez,
as well as Matthew Inman,
creator of the wildly
popular web comic,
The Oatmeal. With the
campaign, we are looking
to reconnect with Seattle
beer drinkers by leveraging
a shared communal bond to place and home. “Seattle Original” runs across
Seattle through September 30th, featured on billboards, wild postings,
sidewalk stencils, radio and digital.
Omission’s the Toast of NYC
When Jason Wachob, founder of
the mega hot lifestyle media
company MindBodyGreen, hosted
the Brooklyn launch party for his
new book WELLTH, he made sure
there was plenty of Omission on
hand for guests to enjoy. Perfect
match, right? A community of
folks committed to wellness and
the best-tasting, glutenremoved beer around. Omission
received rave reviews, both at
the party and online as Twitter
and Snapchat followers inquired
about where to buy! Jason had a
bottle of his beloved IPA with him
throughout the night, even at the
book signing table.
AMB’s Community Focus in the Spotlight
All About Beer recently profiled some of the most generous craft breweries for their community involvement and support. No surprise that AMB gets
the spotlight- for giving $18,000 to community programs in Q1 alone, for launching its “We Can So You Can” non-profit, and for supporting the Blue Ridge
Conservancy, which protects the land and water
across western North Carolina. With AMB’s production and sales on the rise thanks to the CBA
strategic partnership CFO Jeremy Barnes notes
that AMB can contribute even more to local
causes. Click to read the article here.
PAGE 3
AMB Steamrolls Past
2015 Volume
We’re still celebrating the major milestone
we hit last month – helping AMB sell more
cases in just over four months compared to
what they sold in all of 2015. To date, we’ve
sold over 30,000 case equivalents. Coming up,
we’ve got some exciting plans to share AMB’s
story as Boone’s pioneering craft brewery
across North Carolina. Stay tuned for more!
We’re the World’s Best Cider!
Square Mile Spur & Vine took home
the Gold from the World Cider
Championships, and we’re staking
our claim as the world’s best cider.
We celebrated by releasing our first
small batch cider, Oaked Aged
Ginger Apple Cider, at the 6th
Annual Cider Summit PDX at The
Fields Park in Portland’s Pearl
District. Ours was a favorite among
more than 150 ciders, including
regional favorites and international
classics. Our unique small batch
cider is also being featured at
various on premise accounts during
Portland Cider Week.
Square Mile’s
Been Horsing
Around
Square Mile Cider was the proud sponsor
of the Mountain High Broncs and Bulls
Rodeo in Enterprise, Oregon this month.
Our delicious ciders were served to more
than 1000 people who came from all over
the northwest to see this world-famous
rodeo. Seriously, we’re not clowning around.
Kona Brewpubs Surf into
Sustainability
Both of our Kona brewpubs are
now certified Surfrider Ocean
Friendly restaurants! Some
of the requirements include:
No EPS foam (“styrofoam”);
take-out food containers must
be recyclable or compostable,
only reusable tableware is
provided for onsite dining
inside restaurants, and proper
recycling practices are followed
throughout the restaurant. Big
Mahalo to both pub teams!
The Sustainability
Corner:
We love the earth
In celebration of Earth Day earlier this year and the many, many,
many trees we’re saving with CBA
PaperCuts, folks in each location
participated in volunteer and
tree-planting events.
• PSM hosted its 2nd annual
“Party for the Planet” where
31 volunteers planted 12 trees,
picked up 26 bags of trash, and
built rain gardens. The block
party celebration featured an
Earth Day IPA with $1 of every
pint donated to protect our
local watershed. Check out
the follow-up article here.
• Team Kona, led by Debbie
Jost, helped to finish an
8-year running project to
revive the Kona Skate Park
for youth. Six native Plumeria
trees were planted to provide shade, and irrigation was installed.
• WDV cleared over 24 cubic
yards of invasive blackberry
at the brewery grounds to
support the health of the
Snohomish River watershed
and prep the area for
native tree plantings.
After hacking back
mounds of blackberry, a
choked-out tree was
rescued and the river
view can be seen again!
• PDX volunteered
at neighboring Greeley Forest Garden, and celebrated with a special beer, Brother Nature
Wheat, with a portion of the proceeds supporting the Garden.
The beer is water-neutral through water restoration credits from
Bonneville Environmental Foundation, and Greeley Garden is
water-neutral by using only repurposed rain-barrels donated by
Widmer Bros to capture all irrigation water needed.
• Widmer Brothers has also become a Planting Partner with Friends of
Trees, sponsoring 50 trees to be planted in the community this year.
PAGE 4
ALER
CBA WHOLgEhS
t
Highli
Thanks, Nevada Beverage
Company!
Our partnership with Nevada Beverage Company is on a mega winning
streak! CBA brands are up more than 20% for the year—with Kona up 45%
and Widmer Brothers continuing its turnaround with Hefe up 17.5% in the
on premise.
What makes Nevada Beverage stand out is the passion they put into
growing CBA’s brands. This level of commitment and passion starts with
General Manager Robert McDonald, who’s been a fantastic supporter of
CBA from the beginning. In fact, Robert’s favorite beer just happens to be
Hefe—with two lemons – so clearly he’s setting a trend!
According to Chris Schierman, Division Sales Manager, “Our partners at
NBC are incredibly supportive. They understand our objectives and are
focused on our priorities, and the massive growth we’re seeing reflects
their exceptional teamwork.”
Every issue we’ll profile a wholesaler that is going
above and beyond to bring the power of CBA’s
portfolio to life. This issue, we’re highlighting
Nevada Beverage Company.
The entire team at Nevada Beverage is wholly committed to CBA’s success;
from Craft Brand Manager, Mark Lawson, working hard to get his team
excited about our brands, to the many successful chain activations from
Scott Grossards’ crew, to Rob Nelson’s team ensuring casino goers thirsts
are quenched with CBA brands.
Special shout outs to Harry Moses and Steve Flood for their teams’
successes, increasing our presence in the grocery channel, with off premise
points of distribution for Kona up more than 42%. Also, hats off to Rudy
Abundo, whose on premise team is driving
record growth across Nevada! In fact, NBC
has grown total CBA points of distribution
by nearly 15%. Much of that growth is
attributed to Kona draft on premise which
is up a whopping 149.3% for the year! Just
as impressive, the team at NBC has grown
Widmer Brothers on premise points of
distribution by over 34%, with Widmer
Brothers Hefe in the lead.
We’d like to list each and
every member of the NBC
team, but our copy editors
feared we would run out
of space. Instead, we raise
our pints to all of our great
partners at Nevada
Beverage Company.
NBC, thank you for your never-ending passion and commitment to CBA.
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