❌ Firestone Walker Gets into Non-Alc with 8ZERO5

Add Firestone Walker to the growing list of top breweries entering the non-alcoholic (NA) beer space. Around the post-Labor Day resets, 8ZERO5 will begin hitting chain grocery and on-premise accounts in California.

Brewbound Insiders are getting the details from Firestone Walker’s Dustin Hinz and Tony Amaral. The duo dish on the launch, their plans to make it the “Summer of Cerveza” for 805 Cerveza, and plans for Mind Haze and Cali Squeeze. 

Insiders are also:

• Receiving details on Garrett Oliver’s “Brewing for Impact” campaign (newsletter exclusive); 
• Reading about 3 Tier Beverage’s latest c-suite hire;
• Diving into Molson Coors’ Q1 financial results;
• And seeing Sierra Nevada’s new NA variety pack (newsletter exclusive).

Insiders also have access to the Brewbound Newsletter Archive, including previous newsletter-exclusive Insider content.

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Firestone Walker is the latest top craft player to enter the non-alcoholic (NA) beer space by leveraging the brand equity of its biggest brand.

8ZERO5 blonde, an NA version of the Duvel Moortgat-owned craft brewery’s 805 flagship, will only be available in its home state of California following Labor Day. The beer will be sold in 6-pack cans. 

Brewbound Insiders can go deeper into Firestone Walker’s summer marketing plans, including making this the “Summer of Cerveza,” and efforts behind Mind Haze and Cali Squeeze. 

Turiya Luzadder, a former strategic analyst for Molson Coors, has joined 3 Tier Beverages as the Chicago-based data analytics and sales consulting firm’s first chief operating officer (COO).

Luzadder will report directly to 3 Tier Beverages founder Donn Bichsel Jr., helping drive “scale and innovation, while maintaining 3 Tier’s culture of customer-centricity and agile execution,” according to a press release. 

Luzadder spent more than a decade at Molson Coors (then MillerCoors) in various analytics and consumer insights roles. She also spent time at Heineken, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Michael Skurnik Wines, and most recently served as chief growth officer at SGS & Co., an international packaging design and production agency. 

Brewbound caught up with Luzadder ahead of her hiring announcement to discuss her new position. Insiders can read highlights from the Q&A here, as well as news of other recent hires at 3 Tier Beverages.

Molson Coors net sales increased +10.7% (+10.1% in constant currency) in Q1 2024, as the company continues to record volume growth from its core brands, the company reported today. 

Shipments (sales to wholesalers) in the Americas increased +7.5% “primarily due to an increase in U.S. volumes driven by volume growth in our ore brands, partially offset by lower contract brewing volume.” 

Depletions also increased +5.3% – +5.8% in the U.S. alone – but fell behind shipments by 750,000 hectoliters “driven by the accelerated building of distributor inventory levels to support the peak summer selling seasons and to mitigate the impact of the Fort Worth brewery strike that commenced in mid-February.” 

Insiders can read more, including additional color on how “permanent” Molson Coors’ gains are from chief communications and corporate affairs officer Adam Collins.

The Brewbound Live business conference returns December 11 and 12 in Marina del Rey, California.

Brewbound Live will feature beverage-alcohol industry leaders taking part in business-focused conversations, data presentations, networking and much more across two days at the Marina del Rey Marriott.

Brewbound announced the first speakers for this year’s conference. They include:

• Russian River co-owner Natalie Cilurzo;
• Deschutes Brewery CEO Peter Skrbek;
• National Beer Wholesalers Association chief economist and VP of analytics Lester Jones;
• Draftline Technologies founder and president Jennifer Hauke.

Additional speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

In addition to the mainstage programming and networking parties, Brewbound Live will feature opportunities for one-to-one conversations between brewers and bev-alc brands and retail buyers from chains such as Whole Foods Market. Registered attendees will be considered for meetings with buyers, as space is limited. Find out more details here.

Register for Brewbound Live 2024.