BA 580
June 28, 2011
New Belgium Brewing
Case Study Analysis
New Belgium brewery has increasingly grew throughout the years since their development in 1991. Despite the dominance of the “Big Three” (Budweiser, Miller, and Coors), NBB needs to be aggressive and strive to invest in the attractive beer industry in able to grow more. If positioned correctly, NBB and its main brand, Fat Tire, can continually grow. An evaluation of the industry, the business itself, its brands, and the customers and competitors is needed in order to be continuously successful. The brewing industry can be characterized by Porter’s Five Forces framework. New entries to brewing have a relative ease in creating home micro-breweries, which is aided by
…show more content…
These connections give them a huge opportunity to communicate directly with consumers. In order to maximize this opportunity, they should promote their existing events like the Tour de Fat bike race and beer festivals across the country. New Belgium should also open a second brewery in the eastern half of the United States to accommodate more growth into uncharted territories. Putting the new brewery in an already established eastern market like Indiana would allow New Belgium to solidify their hold on current markets while giving them the potential to grow into neighboring territories. Introduction to the Northeast is critically important because as of now they are ceding the whole region to rival competitors like Samuel Adams. The pluses to this second brewery include additional capacity for production of beers, wider reach of distribution, and ultimately higher sales due the territorial growth. The minuses include a possible loss of company culture at the new brewery due to its distance from Fort Collins. Another minus would be the loyalty current consumers have for regional craft beers already in the market. However these minuses can be addressed by implementing a couple different measures. First, in order to acquaint New Belgium products into new markets, the company should employ a specialized sales team that will go into local bars and pubs and buy New Belgium products for locals. This will begin the grassroots campaign which New Belgium
In the current beer industry not many companies are incorporating the winter extreme sports scene into their marketing plans. Skiing and snowboarding attract a vast number of people every winter and tapping into the winter extreme sports market may be beneficial for Leinenkugel as well as Colonial Wholesale Beverage. Therefore, Leinenkugel will offer a winter promotion entitled the Winter Wonderland Getaway that will give consumers the opportunity to win prizes, go on vacation, and drink delicious beer. Codes will be included inside all Leinenkugel’s Fireside Nut Brown cases that may be redeemed online for chances to win weekly giveaways. Also, special codes will be scattered across our region that entitle consumers
New Belgium is, however, the third-largest craft brewery in the nation, with estimated sales of over $100 million, equaling approximately 700,000 barrels of beer per year. An analysis of the craft beer industry as a whole suggests that there is continued growth potential for New Belgium. Exhibit 5.1 of the New Belgium Brewing (B) case shows that craft beer is the fastest growing segment of the U.S. alcoholic beverage market, with an increase in market share of over 100 percent from 1999-2011. It is also an industry whose customers tend to be extremely loyal, making them less likely to view craft beer as a commodity. Consequently, craft beer has a higher probability of being immune to competition from inferior goods and substitutes. This is particularly applicable to New Belgium’s target market of “beer connoisseurs” that appreciate the high quality and taste of craft beer and who include “executives, lawyers, and accountants” with the continued ability to pay higher prices for craft beer, enabling the craft beer industry to achieve gross margins of up to 30 percent (Clark & Rogler, 2013).
Consumer demand for robust ale was not being fulfilled with the current beers on the market. In 1991 Jeff Lebesch and his wife Kim started the company out of their basement. They focused on the rich flavor and unique concept. Their focus on social and environmental responsibility has set them apart from brewing companies on the market. Jeff and his wife wanted to promote a product while being innovative and socially responsible. They designed their core values and mission statement while hiking in a national park (Ferrell, 2010). In addition they wanted to promote the brand and corporate citizenship (Ferrell, 2010). Although the product is alcohol they encourage consumers to be responsible. Also, they have sponsored events, dinners and philanthropic causes to help gain consumer loyalty. In 2013, USA named NBB as 6 out of 15 best brewing companies (Franklin, 2013). Also, the company has increased is competitive advantage with is stance on environmental conscience brewing. They were the first brewery to utilize wind power generator, even with an increase cost of .025 per kilowatt (Asher, Bidner and Greene, 2003). Also, they utilize light tunnels, windows and recycled steam to reduce their carbon footprint (Gorski, 2013). In 2002 NBB participated in the LEED-EB pilot program (Ferrell, 2010). Furthermore, the company donates $1 for every barrel of beer sold to each of the 26 states territories and distributed $700,000 in 2012 (What we are about, 2013). Despite
The Adolph Coors Case Study proved the dedication and self-reliance Coors brings to the beer industry. Having overcome great adversity by surviving the prohibition years, Coors durability and sustainability are also complimentary points on the structure of the company. Coors is a family owned company that had humble beginnings in Colorado and within 100 years grew into a multimillion-dollar company. Coors’ controlled manufacturing process is a sign of their individuality in the beer industry, this was not an unknown fact, however, as they were receiving orders to ship Coors beer all across the nation as of 1972. The case study allowed an internal and external point of view, which was highly beneficial to properly analyze their upcoming problem within the company.
Belgium is home of the finest ales and have been known to brew for centuries. So when Jeff Lebesch, an electrical engineer from Fort Collins, Colorado took a bicycle trip through Belgium it made him realize there may be a market back home to sell Belgian-style ale. Jeff returned home with hopes to experiment and brew his own beer in his basement from the various ingredients he received on his trip. When his friends approved of the ales he started marketing them to the local town. He later opened New Belgium Brewing Company in 1991. His wife, Kim Jordan was the company’s marketing director. They named their first brew “Fat Tire Amber Ale” after Jeff’s
Anheuser-Busch InBev is the name of the leading global brewer. The company has a “portfolio of more than 200 beer brands, including three global flagship beers: Budweiser, Stella Artois and Beck’s” (“Anheuser-Busch”, 2015). Budweiser is an American style lager and was introduced in 1876 by Adolphus Busch. Adolphus Busch wanted to create the United States first national beer brand. Budweiser became universally popular and has exceeded regional tastes. Budweiser is known as the “King of Beer”. Budweiser is brewed using a “blend of imported and classic American aroma and bittering hops, and a mixture of barley malts and rice,
The two brewers were moved to the Springfield plant to implement new ideas and help the 8 brewers to apply them into making the new ale which match Belbin’s idea that Plants are innovators and inventors. They usually prefer to operate by themselves which may explain the difficulty in communicating with the Springfield brewers while also lacking practical constraint. The two NFB brewers may have been identified to join Springfield as Plants are often needed in the initial stages of a project such as the implementation of a new ale to a brewery.
As New Belgium’s distribution continues to expand away from its Colorado based culture, preserving the quality of its brand is key, when making its branding and messaging resonate with consumers in different parts of the country. In certain regions, breweries are widely recognized and accepted; however, in some regions, different variables play a vital role in the decision. The largest geographic concentrations of craft breweries are located in the Pacific Northwest, Northeast, the Great Lakes, and the Mountain West (Reid & Gatrell, 2015, p. 6). Religious beliefs are deemed the reason breweries are not widely accepted in the southern region, which would pose a major obstacle if the New Belgium Brewery (NBB) attempted to expand in the South
New Belgium brewing company is a craft brewery that focuses on more than the just the bottom line. The company actually uses a triple bottom line approach. The company is operated by basic guidelines set forth by its creators. These guidelines are what makes the company so successful today. NBB’s relational advantages are so the source of the company’s most important competitive advantage and the cornerstone of the company’s customer intimacy strategy.
In this paper I will be talking about the U.S. beer industry and in short an overview of the brewing industry worldwide. I will talk about the barriers to entry, economies of scale, government intervention, pricing, current market trends, product differentiation, and imports. The focus being mainly on the U.S. brewing industry oligopoly. The U.S. brewing industry has three major players: Anheuser-Busch, SAB Miller, and Coors/Molson. Anheuser-Busch is currently the largest brewer in the world, producing over 100 million barrels a year. Anheuser-Busch currently owns over 50% of the market in the United States, with Miller trailing behind at 20% and Coors at about 11% with the rest of the market occupied by imports and craft breweries. When analyzing any industry, how easy it is for newcomers to enter the market is a great importance. If there are high barriers to entry
New Belgium Beer started in 1991 in Jeff Lebesch’s basement in Colorado. Since its humble beginnings, New Belgium continues to embrace sustainability, whimsy, and fun culture rooted from its Colorado-based history embracing their founders and employee’s beliefs. As the NBB distribution continues to grow and expand into other states plus other countries away from its Colorado headquarters the organization had learned to market their brand very well thru the internet. Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube in addition to other social media outlets. Social media allows the company to stay in contact with all their loyal customers around the world.
Strengths:The largest producer; Improved productivity; strategic with foreign producers; Two independent distribution Weaknesses:Low volume of sales of nonbeer products; Antitrust restrictionOpportunities:Positive volume growth of beer sales; New and attractive market Threats:Rising foreign firms’ competition; Tariffs elimination; Rising imported ingredients cost
Industry & Competitive Analysis CHIEF ECONOMIC TRAITS OF THE BEER INDUSTRY The market size of the beer industry is incredible. The wholesale volume in the beer industry is approxiametly $13.7 billion. The industry employes almost 40,000 people. The average worker is paid about $18.27 an hour. As you can see, this is a very large industry which provides many jobs to the american workforce. The market consists of many competitors, some being very large and some operating on a very small scale. The competitive rivalry is broken up into three segments, Natiional, Regional , and Microbrewers. National competitors have a wide market coverage and generally a large company. Regional competitors are smaller than National in the fact that they only
New Belgium Brewing Co. (NBB) is a craft beer leader that embraces sustainability and corporate responsibility. For New Belgium, social, ethical, and environmental responsibilities are as important to the company’s operations as profitability. For New Belgium, business is as much about improving the local community as it is about making beer.
Through their brand recognition, New Belgium Brewery has won the beer battle between most of their competitors. Beer connoisseurs know New Belgium Brewery by their infamous New Belgium Fat Tire. Fat Tire has helped New Belgium gain a competitive advantage because of the beers high demand. Also, New Belgium’s social responsibility is a major part of why they obtain the competitive advantage over their competitors. New Belgium is a simple company that portrays an economical friendly production, a strong family back- round, and consumer-based market strategy. New Belgium focuses on three responsibilities, social responsibility, employee responsibility, and environmental responsibility. Also, because of their focuses, they have become one of the top competitors to other craft beer