The beer category is crowded; Giants like AB InBev and Heineken dominate the market and Over 9,500 craft breweries Founders Brewing Company of Michigan currently operates throughout the United States. 13th largest beer company in the US focuses on data to create beers designed for existing consumers while remaining relevant as tastes evolve.
This Grand Rapids-based brewery is known for its wide variety of IPAs and regularly releases new beers. Oktoberfest benefits It was released for a limited time in September.
Sandy Anaoka, chief marketing officer of Founders’ parent company Mahou USA, told Food Dive that much has changed since she started working there seven years ago. At the time, it felt like “nothing could go wrong” for craft breweries, he said, making it easier to reach consumers because they fit a common archetype. Now, the company has started focusing on sales data.
“You can release almost anything because the shelves weren’t as fragmented and saturated as they are now,” Anaoka said. “As craft brewers, we could work on just about any fun, wild, creative idea we wanted.”
However, the rise of IPAs in the late 2010s prompted the brewery to change its strategy. Since then, the process has changed from being product-driven to being consumer-driven, he said. The founders have been working on new beer formulations that target existing consumers to maintain the fan base they have accumulated.
With its flagship All Day Series of IPAs, the brewery has capitalized on consumers’ desire for flavors that make the most of hops and offer a variety of tastes. haze all day It offers a “hazy” fruity flavor with a misty appearance. Crimson Sky all day long Contains floral and grapefruit flavors. All nightthe darker variant features a moderately bitter chocolate taste.
“We need to focus more on the types of consumers we want to reach, including demographics, regional preference profiles, and psychographics,” Anaokar said.
Founders Brewing Co.’s flagship all-day IPA.
Courtesy of Founders Brewing Company.
Formulation using data
In recent months, analysts have said the beer industry is becoming saturated and crowding out the market. Notably, San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing Company, the nation’s oldest craft brewery, ceased operations in July. since then, GoFundMe created by former Anchor employee Organizers and raised over $100,000 told a local reporter last month. They are in negotiations to reopen the brewery.
Anaokaa attributes the category’s current stagnation to the changing economic environment. He said the brewery saw a significant increase in sales of 15-pack IPAs during the 2020 pandemic lockdown as people stocked up. But when inflationary pressures hit, consumers had less money to spend on beer and shifted to smaller quantities, such as single servings and six-packs. Imperial IPAs and high-alcohol beers are also becoming more popular as drinkers want to get more value out of their purchases, Annaoka said.
The brewery uses a variety of sources to gather what types of flavors and sizes consumers are looking for in Founders beer.
“We’re looking at sales data, we’re looking at consumer data from IRI, we’re doing consumer research, we’re collecting anecdotal feedback from our wholesaler and retail partners,” Anaoka said.
The founder’s marketing executive said the brewery still wants to offer innovative beers to consumers, but is focused on meeting consumers’ desire for quality. Like a hazy IPA, Contains less bitterness and a more fruity flavor profilePopularized by brands like Hazy Little Thing and trending in recent years, the brewery is trying to adapt to what consumers want rather than following what other breweries are doing. I was aiming to create a version.
“One of the problems with a lot of cloudy beers is their stability,” Anaoka says. “We strive to make products that are of the highest quality, have a long shelf life, and maintain a punch of flavor without resorting to gimmicks.”
