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Artisanal Brewing Ventures offerings now include those from Victory Brewing, Southern Tier Brewing, … [+]
Artisanal Brewing Ventures (ABV), a collective of Northeastern craft breweries backed by New York family office Ulysses Management, today announced it would acquire Virginia’s Bold Rock Hard Cider.
Financial terms were not disclosed, and the deal is expected to close before the end of the year.
By purchasing Bold Rock, ABV will add about 80,000 barrels of craft cider and hard seltzer to a stable of notable brands that already includes Pennsylvania’s Victory Brewing, New York’s Southern Tier Brewing and Brooklyn’s Sixpoint Brewery.
The four companies will combine to produce about 450,000 barrels in 2019, which would move ABV into the top-20 of U.S. beer company suppliers.
In an email to Forbes, ABV chief marketing officer Derek Detenber characterized the addition of Bold Rock as “wholly incremental,” since the group does not presently offer a cider product.
“Consumer behavior is shifting to lighter, more sessionable options,” he wrote. “So, Bold Rock gives us a platform for growth today and into the future as we continue to try to stay on the same wavelength as consumer needs.”
Volume sales of cider were down 4.3 percent year-to-date through mid-September, according to market research firm IRI. Nevertheless, Detenber said ABV was attracted to Bold Rock because of its strength across a relatively tight distribution footprint.
“If you peel back the category a bit, the trends are driven almost exclusively by Angry Orchard,” he said. “But there is strength in regional craft brands like Bold Rock, Austin Eastciders and Downeast.”
According to a press release, Bold Rock Hard Cider is the second-largest cider brand in the U.S., behind Boston Beer Company’s Angry Orchard. The Virginia-headquartered company employs about 200 people.
Founded in 2012, Bold Rock operates production facilities in Nellysford, Virginia and Mills River, North Carolina. The company also runs a pair of seasonal taprooms in Virginia, and distributes to 10 states.
In a press release, ABV said Bold Rock’s various products would help the group “meet the needs of the changing adult beverage consumer.”
Earlier this year, Bold Rock introduced an apple-based hard seltzer line. The two varieties – grapefruit and cucumber melon – check in at 4% ABV, contain 82 calories and 1 gram of sugar per 12 oz. serving.
Sales within the hard seltzer category are surging, and there are now upwards of 100 brands fighting for shelf space and consumer mindshare. Mark Anthony Brands’ White Claw and Boston Beer’s Truly offerings are the two leading hard seltzer products on the market, and sales of both are growing triple digits this year, according to IRI.
Though it just launched, Bold Rock hard seltzer sales are growing, Detenber said, adding that ABV has “high expectations” for the brand in the coming years.
In October, Bold Rock released a line of ready-to-drink canned cocktails. The first offering, appropriately called “Bold Fashioned,” is a 7.5% whiskey drink made with juice and natural flavors.
For its part, Southern Tier, which also operates a distillery by the same name, launched a line of canned cocktails last August. The distillery makes a variety of canned vodka seltzers, as well as gin and tonic and bourbon smash, among other products.
Around this time last year, ABV acquired Sixpoint Brewery for an undisclosed sum. The company is planning to build a 20,000 sq. ft. brewing facility in Brooklyn that is slated to open next May.
ABV, which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, was officially formed in 2016 through the merger of Victory Brewing and Southern Tier. Southern Tier had previously sold to Ulysees in 2014. The company has outposts in Lakewood, New York, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and metro Philadelphia.
With the addition of Bold Rock, ABV will soon boast nine taprooms in the eastern half of the U.S., and have an ability to reach over 2 million customers annually.
“There is a shared belief among the ABV team and the Bold Rock team that the taproom business is important in creating great brand experiences for guests, making them fans and then seeing them go into the markets and buy our brands from our retail partners,” Detenber told Forbes.
Asked about the future plans for ABV and if an IPO was on the table, Detenber said the company would “evaluate all potential avenues when that time is right.”
The sale of Bold Rock comes one day after New Belgium announced it would sell to a division of Japan’s Kirin Holdings. The transaction also comes one week after Craft Brew Alliance struck a deal with Anheuser-Busch InBev.
Over $1 billion has been spent on craft beverage acquisitions so far this year, and more deals are said to be on the way.
