Quenching The Thirst
Chapter Four: The Future
By Rod Kackley
Can we ever have enough or even too many craft breweries? “I think that is a little different topic than just the growth topic. I do believe we will double the market share but everyone talks about this being a bit of a bubble’” said Stevens.” You can get to the point where there are too many brewers. We could confuse retail a bit with too many SKUs (stock keeping unit) out there on the shelf. Eventually, retail operations like Meijer or Spartan are going to throw their hands up and say ‘Enough. We can’t get any more on the shelf.’”
Stevens really doesn’t see that happening in the near future either. He predicts the “strong will survive, and that is good for the industry. It means you have to pay attention to your product. You have to pay attention to your business. You have to mind what you are doing and make good, sound decisions. Then you will be okay.”
Tom Suprise the chief executive officer and co-founder of Arcadia Brewing in Battle Creek, Michigan is also optimistic about the Michigan craft brewing industry’s potential. He is another brewer who didn’t see this level of success coming. “I don’t think any of us had any clue as to the extent and manner the craft brewing industry would grow. At least from my one perspective, we are pleasantly surprised to be in this position 16 years after we started the company.”
The industry is in good shape, nationwide. “There is a tremendous amount of support and enthusiasm for the craft beer culture,” Suprise said. “Our national goal as a community of craft brewers is a 10 percent share or more. There are 18-hundred to 19-hundred breweries in planning now.”
(For the latest figures on the numbers of craft breweries in the U.S., please click here.)
Could we ever have too many breweries in the industry? “As long as the breweries that are coming online and those that are in an existing state of operation keep the primary focus on quality and good, sound business practices, there is plenty of room for continued growth,” he said.
Suprise shares the passion for beer and brewing that is expressed by others in the field. “We work every day to make the beer better,” he explained.
However, there is a problem that is looming over the Michigan beer industry liked the fabled Sword of Damocles. It is a challenge facing factories, breweries, and food processors across the state. Dan Lennon told us about it in Farm to Fork, (the fourth essay in the Restore The Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance series.)
Beer brewing is really manufacturing. The people brewing beer sing the same song of woe as do people working with heavy metal. Manufacturers are constantly complaining about a lack of talent. Craft brewers in Michigan have he same problem. You read about it in Restore The Roar: Where Are The Workers, and you are reading about it again, here. Suprise said it is no different for his industry and will only get worse as the number of breweries multiplies. “All of us are in search of good, qualified, motivated and passionate people.”
There you have what manufacturing really needs. Passion. That is how you really Restore The Roar. With Passion.
Restore The Roar: Manufacturing Renaissance is a five-part ebook essay series that begins with The Great Collapse. To order any or all of the Restore The Roar essays, please click here.
Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community tells the story of how the people of Grand Rapids created a new cluster of prosperity, the Medical Mile, while Detroit and Flint were become two of the most miserable, crime-ridden cities in America.
Autographed editions can be ordered by click on the Add To Cart button on the Welcome Page of www.rodkackley.com.
Last Chance Mile: The Reinvention of an American Community is also available wherever books are sold online including Abbott Press, as well as the shelves of Barnes & Noble-Woodland Mall, Schuler Books & Music-28th Street, West Coast Coffee on Monroe Center, and the Grand Rapids Public Library in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan.
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