I’m hearing all sorts of conflicting information. Did Northern Brewer sell out to InBev?
That’s what I heard. Sold to their incubator.
What incubator? Are we taking about the stores? Why would InBev want a relatively very small retail business for home brew supplies?
If it’s true, they just signed their own suicide note.
Because they can, to show us who’s the boss.
I obviously don’t know numbers. But they must be top three in the country.
One source. - http://mnbeeractivists.com/newsfeed/northern-brewer-midwest-supplies-acquired-ab-inbev
I agree NB is a very large HBS but very small for InBev.
Maybe I underestimate NB revenue and profit but I am thinking annual revenue less than $10M. That doesn’t seem worth InBev’s time or attention.
What If they use their contracts to make it THE homebrew supply? Maybe NB grain prices will finally become reasonable.
The article from vists.com list bevinsights.com as their source. Google search “site:bevinsights.com northern brewer” shows nothing. I don’t see a paywall.
If they drastically cut NB prices they might become competitive or close to it.
bevinsights runs a paid email list for daily stories. That’s where it ran. I’ve had multiple confirmations from different sources
Holeeey sh*t!!
A monopoly and good prices never go together.
Maybe they will have super cheap Bud and Bud Light Kits…
Guess I won’t be buying from NB ever again… Cool!
This deal makes zero sense to me.
I feel the same, Jesse. I buy elsewhere anyway normally, but I won’t buy from them again. Secondly, I just don’t get it. Strange buyout to me, especially with homebrewing supposedly leveling off.
Until AB picks up a bunch of homebrew supply places I don’t think you could call it a monopoly. :o Currently still plenty of choices on where to spend your homebrew dollar. Guess I just don’t care that much about the news until they are doing things that are anti-competitive and looking at the complaints so far pricing competitors out of the market isn’t a tactic they have pursued so far. NB is a business and if they want cash out on what they built or need access to more capital to grow that is up to them.
Just my opinion but if NB was able to slash prices to well below what competitors are charging most homebrewers would buy there en mass.
Other than it being beer related, I don’t see the logic. If there is a long term plan, we will have to see it unfold.
Basically how I feel. Maybe I’d be upset if I ordered from the frequently, but I have a ver “y’all need to calm down” attitude right now.
Whelp, that makes the decision between a Blichmann BeerGun and NB’s Last Straw a whole lot easier…
If true, I suspect one plan is to use the shops as another marketing arm. Now that they have several craft(y) brands and a large number of import brands they can package clone kits for sale not only in those shops but everywhere ABI products are sold. The kits advertise the beers and homebrewers brewing the beers become marketers for ABI beers. The shops can run homebrewing festivals where they pour ABI products and have competitions for brewing the kits.
The shops are also another data point on popular styles and ingredients. They can see what styles are selling the most in kits and what hops are most popular. They’ll even be able to track by geography what’s popular. Then they can dictate new products and where to release products based upon that data in combination with other market data.