Brewers Association Board Meeting Produces Strategic Changes

Boulder, CO – At a two-day meeting held February 26-27 in Boulder, Colo., the Brewers Association(BA) Board of Directors introduced changes to the association’s foundational framework to better serve the not-for-profit trade group’s membership of  small and independent American craft brewers.

The Board approved changes to the Brewers Association purpose, mission, core values & beliefs, and the craft brewer definition.

“The changes to fundamental elements of our industry were undertaken with significant deliberation and consideration of many voices,” said Paul Gatza, Brewers Association director. “In November 2013, at the Board’s direction, the BA surveyed our voting brewery members regarding the ‘foundational documents’ of our association. The results gave us ample member input on these matters of critical importance as the Board headed into its strategic planning meeting.”

Gary Fish, chair of the BA Board of Directors and president of Deschutes Brewery, added: “The Board takes seriously its duty to help the association evolve with the dynamic industry it represents. The Board worked to provide forward-looking leadership, recognizing our role as elected decision makers while taking into account the variety of views expressed by the Brewers Association’s diverse membership.”

Purpose
Slightly revised, the Brewers Association now states its purpose as: To promote and protect American craft brewers, their beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts.

“In spirit and action, our purpose remains unchanged,” said Fish. “Removing the previous reference to ‘craft beers’—which the Brewers Association does not define, but rather leaves to the beer enthusiast—allows the focus to remain on the craft brewers the BA works to promote and protect.”

Mission
The Brewers Association mission now states:

By 2020, America’s craft brewers will have more than 20 percent market share and will continue to be recognized as making the best beer in the world. We will:

• Promote access to raw materials and markets
• Support research and advances in safety, sustainability, education, technology and raw materials
• Exercise political influence to secure fair legislative and regulatory treatment
• Foster the commitment to quality
• Educate consumers to understand and champion beer from craft brewers
• Cultivate new ideas and a commitment to a living and active beer culture among craft brewers, homebrewers and beer enthusiasts

“The 20-by-‘20 objective is an aspirational goal for our craft community, with an inspiring symmetry. I’m convinced this goal is within our reach if we, as an industry, continue to focus on our strengths and passions—making and delivering high-quality, innovative, full-flavored beer to craft beer enthusiasts,” Fish indicated. “Additionally, by noting a commitment to quality and clarifying the place of homebrewers and brewing enthusiasts, we further acknowledge the critical role each plays in the health and growth of the craft brewing industry.”

Core Values & Beliefs
The Brewers Association core values & beliefs are now described as follows:

• Promoting and celebrating the small, independent, traditional and innovative culture of American craft brewers
• Vigorously defending our industry and providing craft brewers with a unified voice
• Fostering transparency within our own organization 
• Supporting and encouraging the responsible enjoyment of beer
• Providing stewardship for 10,000 years of brewing history
• Educating brewers and consumers about the diversity, flavor and quality of beer
• Improving the economic health of American craft brewers
• Working to build a collegial community of brewers, homebrewers and brewing enthusiasts
• Promoting ethical and legal trade practices
• Building relationships and collaborating with our industry partners

BA Director Gatza noted: “Much like the Brewers Association purpose, our core values & beliefs have not so much changed as been reworded to ensure we’re saying what we mean.”

Specifically, the word “innovative” was added to the first bullet point among the core values & beliefs to recognize that cutting edge component of craft brewing. The phrase “unified voice” was moved to a more appropriate context within the core values & beliefs, “fostering transparency” moved up the list to show recognition of the importance of this value, and “collegial” was added to “community of brewers,” while clarifying that homebrewers are part of this group.

Craft Brewer Definition
The three pillars of the craft brewer definition remain the same; however, under the BA Board’s direction, some elements of each pillar have been modified to reflect the evolution within the industry. Specifically, the craft brewer definition now states:

An American craft brewer is small, independent and traditional.

• Small: Annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less (approximately 3 percent of U.S. annual sales). Beer production is attributed to the rules of alternating proprietorships.
• Independent: Less than 25 percent of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by a beverage alcohol industry member that is not itself a craft brewer.
• Traditional: A brewer that has a majority of its total beverage alcohol volume in beers whose flavor derives from traditional or innovative brewing ingredients and their fermentation. Flavored malt beverages (FMBs) are not considered beers.

Small
While the “small” component of the craft brewer definition previously encompassed the flavored malt beverage (FMB) exclusion—as FMBs are not beer—that language is now contained within the traditional segment of the definition, where it more appropriately applies.

The update also added a parenthetical “(approximately 3 percent of annual U.S. sales),” which gives context to the small percentage that 6 million barrels or less of annual production represents vis-a-vis overall beer industry sales.

Independent
The revised language more tightly aligns with common beverage alcohol terminology used throughout the beer, wine, spirits and FMB businesses.

Traditional
The revised definition recognizes that adjunct brewing is quite literally traditional, as brewers have long brewed with what has been available to them.

“The revisions to the craft brewer definition reflect the evolution in thinking regarding the elements of the definition. As the industry continues to rapidly advance, so must the framework that upholds and reflects it,” said Gatza.

Fish concurred: “The revised definition provides room for the innovative capabilities of craft brewers to develop new beer styles and be creative within existing beer styles.” He added: “Taken as a whole, these changes are about looking forward, about the BA of the future, making the association stronger and keeping staff focused on the vital work they do for all of us in the craft brewing community.”

The Brewers Association craft brewer definition debuted in 2007 as a necessary framework for craft industry statistical reporting and trend measurement. The association amended the definition in 2010—changing “small” from annual production of 2 million barrels or less to 6 million barrels or less—to allow growing craft brewers not to be penalized for their success, to reflect the realities of doing business in a marketplace dominated by 100+ million barrel, multinational brewing corporations, and to align with the association’s excise tax recalibration efforts.

For more information, visit the Brewers Association website.

About the Brewers Association
The Brewers Association is the not-for-profit trade association dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their craft beers and the community of brewing enthusiasts. The Brewers Association (BA) represents more than 70 percent of the brewing industry, and its members make more than 99 percent of the beer brewed in the U.S. The BA organizes events including the World Beer Cup®, Great American Beer Festival®, Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America®, SAVOR℠: An American Craft Beer & Food Experience and American Craft Beer Week®. The BA publishes The New Brewer magazine and its Brewers Publications division is the largest publisher of contemporary and relevant brewing literature for today’s craft brewers and homebrewers.

Beer lovers are invited to learn more about the dynamic world of craft beer at CraftBeer.com and about homebrewing via the BA’s American Homebrewers Association. Follow us on Twitter.

The Brewers Association is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital/familial status. The BA complies with provisions of Executive Order 11246 and the rules, regulations, and relevant orders of the Secretary of Labor.