A trio of small western breweries changing hands, a chain of brewpubs filing bankruptcy ahead of expected sale and a handful more brewery closings all coming down the pike in late 2019. Out in Washington, Fish Brewing announced sale to new local owners, married couple Josh Corrigan and Kate Craig. Recall, Fish had entered into receivership (similar to bankruptcy) mid-year (see June 21 issue), citing $4.8 mil in debt. The couple paid just shy of $1 mil for most of Fish Brewing assets (tho not its closed Woodinville taproom), according to the Olympian. "We have a lot of work to do," Kate told the paper. "We're committed to the employees and working with them as a team to plan and grow the business again." While she has retail background, Josh owns Still Liquor bar in Seattle. Pair also hoping to link Fish Brewing up with South Puget Sound Community College Craft Brewing and Distillery program, which is expected to move into big Tumwater, WA project at site of old Olympia brewery (including project from Ninkasi, see Jul 23 issue).

Avery Brewing hired MC and Constellation craft vet Craig Consigny as new natl sales director, co announced today. Craig worked for 16 yrs at MC, including 7 yrs thru 2016 as Midwest sales director for Tenth & Blake, according to LinkedIn. He then joined Constellation as Ballast Point VP/general manager from Oct 2017 thru Apr 2019 (recall, Constellation went thru second round of Ballast layoffs in Apr 2019 as it continued to scale back operations before ultimately selling to Kings & Convicts). "Craig will spearhead an established craft sales organization looking to capitalize on the success of core brands like White Rascal and Hazyish IPA" as well as co's "better-for-you platform led by Pacer IPA" and barrel-aging program, co stated. Avery emphasizing low calories with new line of brews dubbed "Avery 100s" next yr, including Pacer IPA, El Gose and Rocky Mountain Rosé for starters, while also launching new Sparkle hard seltzer (see Oct 1 issue).

Didn't take long for FIFCO USA to find a new CEO. Just over 1 week after announcing to distribs that Adrian Lachowski will officially leave the co Jan 15, FIFCO USA hired "global beverage industry veteran" Rich Andrews as new CEO. Rich has nearly 30 yrs of experience "in international leadership and general management roles across North America, Europe, and Latin America," tho no beer background. Most recently he was COO of Banfi Vintners. Previously he worked as prexy and Managing Director of Americas for Lavazza (coffee roaster), a "series of general management roles" for Bacardi in various countries and VP of Sales and Marketing for Coca Cola. "We're counting on Rich to lead transformational change for our company and yours," co wrote to distribs. Gotta note, craft beer has become much less significant aspect of FIFCO USA's biz over the years, as Magic Hat and Pyramid sales continue to dwindle. In this next phase, FIFCO USA seems to be leaning further toward blurring segments with new FMBs and perhaps further away from craft.

New Belgium ESOP officially approved of sale to Lion Little World Beverages subsidiary of Kirin Holdings, co announced late Tuesday (and sibling pub INSIGHTS Express reported). "This result moves us one step closer towards New Belgium Brewing officially joining Lion Little World Beverages," and "we're excited about the next chapter for NBB and continuing to prove business can be a force for good," stated CEO Steve Fechheimer. So pushback from human rights groups due to Kirin ties to "military-run company" in Myanmar ultimately did not sway collective ESOP decision to sell.

As total craft segment slowed and avg prices dipped in Nov scans (see last issue), a handful of top craft cos saw trends notably soften in latest IRI data too.

• Lagunitas back in the red for 4 wks. After launching 12pk cans of its flagship IPA and returning to growth in recent mos, Lagunitas slipped back in the red. Its $$ dipped 2.5%, volume down 3.5% for 4 wks thru Dec 1, even as Lagunitas IPA accelerated up 8% by $$, 6% by volume. Part of the reason for the dip is Little Sumpin' slip; down 8% for 4 wks vs -1% YTD. Total Lagunitas still up 1% YTD.

At time a certain energy drink owner has seized an obsessive hold on our consciousness as he traverses multiple lawsuits and distribution breakups and new dalliances while emitting steady stream of social media abuse towards his rivals, Crunchbase columnist offers interesting take on why tech figure with similar hold on our attention might warrant a bit less of our time. Joanna Glasner readily allows that Elon Musk is "genius engineer" and EV leader. "Nonetheless, I am sick of hearing about and from Elon Musk," she writes. "This has been the state of affairs for a while. However, it intensified this spring, when Musk disclosed his big stake in Twitter and initiated a bid to take the company private. Suddenly, the perennially attention-mongering Time Person of the Year started monopolizing even more of our collective mental energy" - to point where, on recent day, 5 out of 11 headlines on CNBC's tech news page featured Musk-related stories. "A search for 'Elon Musk' on Google News produced a staggering 119 million results," she reports. As bad, when editors need a graphic to liven up a tech story, they seem to default to foto of Musk.

Primo Water has acquired assets of Crystal Spring Water Co, 115-year-old marketer of spring water to customers in Rhode Island and SE Mass. Terms weren't disclosed in deal that adds about 2,500 customers to footprint of Prime Water North America, which will operate unit . . . Circle K c-store chain is taking step to test cannabiz with deal to open medical marijuana dispensaries adjacent to 10 of its stores in Florida via alliance with Rise Dispensaries. Branded as Rise Express, the outlets will open next year, per announcement from Circle K's Canadian parent Couche-Tard. They'll offer flower, pre-rolls, gummies and vapes sourced from Rise parent Green Thumb Industries' new 28-acre cultivation facility in Ocala, Fla, that's slated to go live by year-end, as C-Store Dive noted. Alliance follows earlier Couche-Tard effort in Canada via alliance with Fire & Flower that resulted in trio of dispensaries in that country.

Justice Dept filed suit in US District Court in Massachusetts to enjoin a co operating as Chill6 from continuing to sell its bev powders directly to consumers. Chill6 is selling "an unapproved new drug, a misbranded drug product and an adulterated food product," on its website, DOJ claims. The product is marketed with claims that it "will cure, treat, mitigate and prevent, among other things, anxiety, insomnia, alcoholism and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)," notes suit. That must be some powder! Complaint further adds that Chill6 formulation "contains Phenibut HCI, an unsafe food additive." Co was originally sent warning letter from FDA back in Jul 2021 to make sure it complied with fed food safety regs, but did nothing and continued to operate, per complaint. "Those who distribute drugs, dietary supplements or foods must comply with federal law designed to ensure those products are safe," declared Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton, who heads DOJ's civil div. "The department will continue to work closely with the FDA to stop the distribution of unapproved new drugs and adulterated food products," he added.

Many familiar bev names once again made the Forbes 400 list for 2022 including owners of mega Molson Coors and Anheuser-Busch distributors. Atop billionaires ranking with beer investments at #25, worth estimated $28.1 bil, is Jim Simons, who owns family office Meritage that owns megadistrib Columbia, the Molson Coors, KDP and Red Bull house, as a key investment. Next up are the brothers Chris and Jude Reyes at #115 on list with estimated net worth of $7 bil each, which includes their food distribution biz, Reyes beer distribs and Coca-Cola bottling operations. They're tied with AriZona Beverages' Don Vultaggio and family, who' has parlayed their 99-cent cans into similar $7 bil net worth. At #184 are Stewart and Lynda Resnick, worth an estimated $5.3 bil each. On bev side they hold Pom Wonderful, Fiji water and various wine cos among their holdings. Next up at #227 is Russ Weiner, who sold Rockstar Energy to PepsiCo for $4 bil and is worth an estimated $4.6 bil. Right behind him at #234 is another bev maven who like Vultaggio parlayed inexpensive items into a fortune, National Beverage's Nick Caporella (La Croix sparkling water) at $4.5 bil. Another big distrib investor on list at #244 is Jim Davis, whose Redwood Capital investment arm is getting mighty big in A-B system, worth estimated $4.3 bil. Forbes estimates net worth of Corona marketer Constellation's Richard and Robert Sands at $3.9 bil each, tied at #285. Also on list, Monster chmn/ceo Rodney Sacks at #332 with $3.3 bil estimated worth, tied with longtime Starbucks leader Howard Schultz. Yet another beer & bev tie among top billionaires is former Pabst owner Dean Metropoulos, now operating Blue Triton, the bottled-water spinoff from Nestle, who's worth an estimated $2.7 bil.