I’ll argue ’til the cows come home that the appeal of craft beer is built in large part due to consumer fatigue for consumerism itself, that we are willing to pay more for a product just because we know the profits are going to a neighbour and community member rather than a faceless multi-national. But big business is aware of this too. Hell, small business people who want to become big business people know this. In fact the creation of faux-community or faux-place is big business in marketing.
This commercial really makes it seem like Blue Moon is an independent brewer with an independent founder but its always been owned by Coors, proof:
“Blue Moon Belgian White (branded as Belgian Moon in Canada) is a Belgian-style witbier brewed by MillerCoors under the name the Blue Moon Brewing Co. It was launched in 1995, and was originally brewed in Golden, Colorado.
Originally called Bellyslide Belgian White, the beer was created by Keith Villa, a brewer at the Sandlot Brewery at Coors Field, Denver, Colorado (owned by the Molson Coors Brewing Company). Blue Moon brewed at the Molson Brewery in Montreal, Quebec, Canada is sold in the USA, as well as exported to Europe.[2] Blue Moon Brewing Co. is an entity of Tenth and Blake Beer Company, the craft and import division of MillerCoors.” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Moon_(beer)
So to spell it out for you this is common practice in beer… if you want local examples think Stanley Park, Bowen Island, Sneaky Weasel (oh snap the last two are the same brewery).
Anyways, I fear this might be happening locally. A new brewery is setting up in PoCo calling themselves Rec Room brewing (cause people often drink beer in rec rooms! well not if you are of age…)
Here comes the Analysis:
Take a look at the Brew Master posting for Rec Room, https://beermebc.com/job/head-brewmaster-new-brewery-in-poco/
- Utilize skills to craft creative recipes and produce the best, most exciting beers possible
- Select and maintain quality ingredients
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Maintains all equipment to “like new” standards
Maintaining the equipment to “like new” standards often requires a mechanic especially if your equipment comes from China.
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Create lasting relationships with vendors and customers
Maintaining relationships with anyone is tough when you are cleaning and brewing all day.
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Initial and ongoing training of all management and service staff
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Cultivate a positive work environment for all staff
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Consistently strive to produce new innovative beverage items to fit concept
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Takes lead role in developing concept with regards to training material
Brewers aren’t creating training material! They are too busy brewing, cleaning, and ordering brewing supplies… especially in the early going.
- Continually train, develop and motivate quality employees
When you have one, maybe two brewers, beneath you this is little more than marketing speak.
- Ensure high quality of beverage presentation/preparation
This one is fair.
- Consistently increase profitability
How? Profitability in my estimation generally decreases when breweries increase in production… Your highest margins are in beer sold from tasting room and they decrease when you package and distribute. In the city of Port Coquitlam where tasting rooms are maxed out at 35 seats packaging and distribution is key! Thus, profit margins are reduced and reduced until if and when it becomes feasible to purchase a canning room and integrate distribution vertically may 3-5 years in at best. Breweries at this level are few and far between… P49, Central City, Phillips…
Thus, the only way to increase profitability in the short to medium term is to sell more quickly or reduce the cost of established recipes… this in nearly all cases means sacrificing quality.
- Accurate reporting of all costs
- Meet or exceed all budgets
Yea shit happens in a brewery, sometimes your hops don’t give the right flavours, and you need another dry hop addition, sometimes your fermentation get stuck, sometimes you need to dump beer because it taste bad… Also “exceed all budgets” just reads really poorly.
- Ensures all accounts are up to date with no “past due” bills
- Conduct profit analysis where needed
Nope, that’s your production manager/owner/founders job… yea your brewer should be able to give you some number but their background is biology not business.
- Write schedules within budget
Do you guys mean brew schedules?
- Monthly P&L review with ownership group
I hope they do do respond. I would love to hear their side also.
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Great read, I’m getting full from all the food for thought you’ve fed me. You mentioned Bowen Island and Sneaky Weasel coming from the same brewery. Is that the brewery in Kamloops that also brews a majority of Whistler Brewing’s beer? Do you know, are they themselves “independently” owned or are they affiliated with one of the Big Guns?
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