![]() ![]() The hard tea effort was driven by the brewing team, which is led by Jeremy Marshall, the head brewer whose tenure at Lagunitas goes back almost 20 years and was hired by Magee. The launch also showed that brewing input is still highly regarded at Lagunitas under Heineken control. “The consumer and the retailers start to understand this is a tea that is full-bodied and flavorful and naturally brewed and at the same time has all the advantages of what consumers are looking for ― easy to drink, low calories and low carbohydrates,” he said. The tea effort strikes the right balance between a flavorful drink and a product that is not super boozy and filling, Peek said. That is in contrast to other brewery efforts mostly using generic commodity tea bought and then spiked with alcohol. A new peach version came out this summer. It also has a nonalcoholic beer, IPNA, that is flavored with Mosaic and Citra hops.īut its Disorderly Tea effort has been its biggest gambit yet under Heineken as the tea is brewed at the Petaluma facility with a leaf similar to yerba mate and flavors of berry and yuzu lemon. Earlier, this year, Lagunitas introduced a revamped HiFi lineup with more fruit flavors. Those efforts have continued with an alcohol-free hop tonic water, which later was used in a cannabis drink, called HiFi Sessions, produced by CannaCraft in Santa Rosa and sold in licensed dispensaries. Peek said the goal for Lagunitas is “to make sure that we continue the innovation funnel where we really think in the long term.” Lagunitas has deepened its roots in the IPA category with various styles, such as a hazy IPA version and lower-alcohol version with less calories called Daytime IPA. The Heineken investment has allowed Lagunitas to play the long game at a time of retrenchment among many craft brewers or those who have jumped on a trendy craze like hard seltzers, a category where growth has flattened. It could have been a very different story for sure and I doubt it’s something that could be replicated by another brewery today,” McGee added. “He (Tony) was running pretty hard with some aggressive financing to ride the growth wave that was happening at the time and I’m not sure if he had much of a margin for error back then. Lagunitas had ramped up with a Chicago brewery that opened in 2014 and had major plans for one in Azusa, but growth then slowed. in Boonville, said in an email that Magee “did a great job of doing what he needed to do when he had the opportunity to do it and then when to exit. Kevin McGee, CEO of Anderson Valley Brewing Co. Heineken also noted in its 2021 annual report that it took an impairment loss ― a permanent decline in the value of an asset ― of $240 million mainly related to its Lagunitas investment and a slower than expected recovery from COVID-19.īut the difference was that Tony Magee, who founded Lagunitas in 1993, saw an exit ramp and acted years before most in the craft beer industry with the Heineken investment. ![]() The head count is now around 500, Peek said. ![]() The brewery had 730 employees when Heineken first invested in 2015 with a valuation of the brewery at the time at about $1 billion, people familiar to the deal told The Press Democrat. To be sure, Lagunitas has encountered its share of fiscal challenges as the company’s sales in the craft category are down 12.4% over the past year, according to IRI. And later this month, Lagunitas will finish construction of its innovation brewery that will allow its team to test out small batch, experimental beers for its fans.ĭennis Peek has served as chief executive officer at Lagunitas Brewing Co. Later this year, the brewery will launch Island Beats, a less bitter and citrusy ale that has a milder 5% alcohol content. The company, which has been fully owned by Amsterdam-based Heineken International since 2017, is bullish on its new hard tea product with a $4 million marketing campaign behind it. in Petaluma, however, is looking to the future. of Escondido, which was snapped up last month by Japanese brewer Sapporo as the company owed $464 million to private investors, and Modern Times Beer of San Diego in receivership and looking for a buyer to rescue it. The examples are notable, including Stone Brewing Co. ![]() The fallout has been quick and brutal, especially among some of the most well-known brands, as craft beer sales have decreased 7.5% over the past year at retail establishments tracked by the market research firm IRI. Craft breweries across the country are adjusting to whiplash going from the rapid growth of a decade ago to a dramatic slowdown of sales in recent years. ![]()
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