{"id":2576,"date":"2015-05-26T06:00:47","date_gmt":"2015-05-26T11:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beerbusinessunplugged.com\/?p=2576"},"modified":"2015-05-24T10:48:06","modified_gmt":"2015-05-24T15:48:06","slug":"may-27-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beerbusinessunplugged.com\/?p=2576","title":{"rendered":"May 27, 2015…."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Travelers\"<\/a>We take time every year this week to recognize the birthday of Jim Koch, founder of Boston Beers.\u00a0 Jim turns 66 tomorrow.<\/p>\n

In last year\u2019s blog about Jim, May 27, 2014<\/em>, we highlighted not only the outstanding numbers Boston Beers was putting up, but also looked at some of the new products that were about to, or just had been rolled out by Boston.<\/p>\n

In addition to the great success of Angry Orchard, by far the dominate cider in the market place, and the rapid growth of the Twisted Tea brands, Rebel IPA was a major success.\u00a0 Now in 2015, Boston Beers\u2019 focus is to establish the new Traveler brands.\u00a0 While it is too early to determine the level of success, Traveler products might be more of a summer seasonal based on their liquid.<\/p>\n

Unlike ABI, Boston’s new products are not line extensions.\u00a0 Boston allows these new products to stand on their own reputation.\u00a0 The consumer sees the lines as something new, different and unusual. To date, this marketing has worked.\u00a0 In fact, it is transforming the company.<\/p>\n

IRI Total US food thru April 19, show that Sam Boston Lager is down -3.3% in volume and Sam\u00a0variety\u00a0is down -13.2%.\u00a0 As a company, however, Boston was up +13.6% during this time period.\u00a0 These numbers further indicate the ongoing change in Boston’s portfolio mix.<\/p>\n

Angry Orchard and Twisted Tee have become a large segment of Boston’s volume.\u00a0 Core flavors are losing ground, but with Rebel IPA, the future looks solid for Boston in crafts\u2019 hottest segment.\u00a0 As mentioned, the jury is still out on The Travelers products.\u00a0 Time will tell.<\/p>\n

In a recent media interview, Jim stated that while Boston only has a one percent share of the US beer market, crafts will continue to grow.\u00a0 He goes on the say that consumers have discovered flavored beers and are looking for more of them.\u00a0 We see this in the numbers and he is right.<\/p>\n

Jim always seems to understand what it takes for a liquid to be successful.\u00a0 He was one of the fore runners of crafts with Boston Lager at a time when no one had an understanding of crafts.\u00a0 Over the years he created craft flavors and most have been successful.<\/p>\n

As with crafts, Jim took new liquids and made them successful when no one else did. He began with teas, and followed years later with ciders, which had been successful in England and other parts of Europe. AO now dominates this fast growing segment.\u00a0 This year Boston has come with shanties.<\/p>\n

Although not new to the US market, look for Boston to jump start this category and become a major brand.\u00a0 It is what Jim does best.<\/p>\n

You can bet Jim has other ideas and brands to draw on in the future, so I am looking forward to seeing just what he will introduce next year.\u00a0 One thing for sure, it will be different.<\/p>\n

Until next year, Happy 66th Jim!<\/p>\n

Beer Fodder;\u00a0