Another craft-on-craft partnership formed in the mountain region, tho no sale took place. CO's Upslope Brewing and ID's Payette Brewing announced a "new partnership" last week on social media without much detail. Turns out Payette "is not being sold or buying Upslope, but the two will share resources," and Payette will move "much of" its production to Upslope facilities, BoiseDev wrote citing Payette founder/CEO Mike Francis. Seemingly similar structure to Great Divide & Dry Dock strategic partnership and/or Telluride and Ska Brewing alliance. Yet Payette's seemingly holding onto its production space as RTD cocktail (AnyTimers) production will continue to be in Boise, and the taproom "will remain as is" but will soon expand lineup to include Upslope products too. This move won't result in layoffs, Mike assured.

Lawson's Finest Liquids is still a bright spot in regional craft as it keeps radiating out from its Vermont home base. Flagship IPA Sip of Sunshine is growing 6.7% so far this yr in NIQ Northeast food stores, co shared this wk. And the brand's lead pack, 4pk of 16oz cans, reached #1 status in Northeast craft scans, according to co. At same time co's Little Sip brand is up even faster, +20%, following intro of 12oz cans for first time earlier this yr. After announcing 1st new state in 5 yrs with addition of North Carolina this mo, co also expects to move into its 11th state, Virginia, later this yr, it announced. "2024 is proving to be an important year for Lawson's," CEO Adeline Druart commented, pointing to co's "strong focus on our flagship Sip of Sunshine and Little Sip brand."

Last yr, Brooklyn Beer posted the 3rd-biggest volume gain in all of craft, propelled by its overseas growth for a total gain of +20%. A big part of that was brand's 34% international growth thru its licensing agreement with Carlsberg in Europe and much of Asia. But as Brooklyn laps loftier comps this yr, its 1st half volume growth in Carlsberg territories slowed to just 4%, the Danish brewer reported this wk. Tho trend improved in Q2 after starting the year down 1% in Q1.

Kirin-Lion's New Belgium and Bell's laid off 7 employees, 6 in sales and 1 in marketing, as co "implemented some important organizational changes" meant to simplify structure and streamline processes to help "carry the momentum of our growing business into the future," co shared with CBN yesterday evening after internal announcement. "We have simplified our structure from four divisions to two," which "aligns leadership across the teams and streamlines current communications and processes to better serve & support distributors and national retailers moving forward," wrote NBB head of comms Sterling Riethman.

It was "a signal event" for Redhook this week in 1993, as INSIGHTS reported it made leap from "microbrewer moving up towards another niche of big brewers" with big financing score of $14 mil. With more cash in hand, Redhook, which hit 50,000 bbls in 1992, could expand capacity from 80,000 bbls to 280,000 bbls. Redhook was still just in Northwest, in N. Calif and a few Mountain states, growing with zero advertising. Growing fast, mostly with AB distribs, prexy Paul Shipman told INSIGHTS: "As time goes on, I'm more three-tier than ever." Redhook peaked at nearly 272K bbls in 2006 under Craft Brew Alliance but declined considerably since then and now owned by Tilray.

Carlsberg reported solid first half results this wk, including growth of organic volume (+1.4%), revenue (+3.9%) and profit (+4.7%). It bumped up full-yr guidance to organic oper profit growth of 4-6% vs +1-5% previously, even as it increased H1 mktg investments by nearly 20%. Yet shares dipped ~4% after earnings. Why? In part due to "gloomy Chinese beer outlook," as Reuters headlined, with stock sagging to 29-month low. But "the key headwind is the loss of the San Miguel license in the UK," wrote Bernstein's Trevor Stirling, estimating it at 2% of group revenue and a possible 3-4% hit to earnings. Still, stock drop of nearly 20% since co's proposed Britvic buyout "seems hard to justify," said Trevor, seeing it as "exaggerated."

Any marketer will tell you that there's a big difference between convincing consumers to consider your brand and getting them to buy it. Sometimes, those gaps can be mighty wide. So show results of recent YouGov polls, revealing which brands are "considered" by largest group of some 5,000+ US adults.

While Tilray's in the process of buying craft beer brands from Molson Coors, it's also offloading a cannabis beverage brand previously bought from MC. US-based Entrepreneurial Equity Partners (E2P) acquired Truss Beverage Co from Tilray thru its subsidiary Ya Ya Foods, Just-Drinks reported. Truss' 186K sq-ft production facility capable of 250K hectoliters/yr is the "main asset" E2P acquired in the deal, according to the article. Ya Ya is a North American co-packer of "aseptic beverages and foods" that handles "high-protein beverages, plant-based drinks, dairy products, fruit juices and sports drinks" that was also acquired by E2P in 2021. So E2P is expanding relatively aggressively in the co-packing space as Truss marks its 3d facility. "The state-of-the-art facility will enable us to offer new capabilities, such as canning and glass, in addition to our existing aseptic PET, carton, and gable top chilled capabilities, and additional capacity to new and existing customers throughout North America," ceo Yahya Abbas shared in statement.