Community Brewing Ventures (CBV) only just launched in 2020, but expansion is already sending the beverage accelerator in new directions. Still in serious growth mode, the company has launched a brand new name — Bevana. With triple-digit growth over the course of its first year in operation, the beverage platform figured this new name would better represent its mission of bringing the best craft beverages (not just beer) from all over the world to enthusiasts, while helping craft beverage makers reach those customers with a high-quality product.
That sounds cool for sure, but what is Bevana exactly? How does it work? According to Aaron Gore, Bevana’s senior director of business development:
“Bevana is the world’s first market access platform for craft beverage companies,” Gore explained via e-mail. “We partner with artisan makers facing obstacles to their growth, whether capacity, capital or distribution. We take the products they are already having success with and use carefully vetted co-packing partners to produce them on a larger scale. We warehouse them centrally, manage all of the wholesale relationships and even have sales staff in the market support and connect with customers. We do all of this at no cost to our partners, keeping financial risk off the table for them. Instead, a portion of all of our revenue goes directly back to our partners, to support their growth within their own home markets.”
CBV grew out of D9 Brewing Co., one of the Southeast’s fastest-growing and most interesting beer ventures. The garage-born beer business opened its first production location in 2014. Since, D9 has become one of greater Charlotte’s biggest breweries with three locations (Lake Norman, Uptown Charlotte and Hendersonville), one production brewery and a distribution center. In 2020, the owners of D9 Brewing and a team of investors and craft beer experts launched CBV, announcing at the end of January 2021 that they had raised $2.5 million through a seed-round to support operations.
Now rechristened Bevana, the company is a craft accelerator for beer brands like Bay Cannon Beer Co., D9 Brewing Co., Unknown Brewing, Steam Theory Brewing Co. and Bold Mariner Brewing Co., but also non-beer makers like Updog Kombucha and Tranquilo Hemp Seltzer.
“We understand the challenges that small beverage makers face because we’ve lived most of them,” said Andrew Durstewitz, CEO and founder of Bevana and D9 Brewing, in a recent press release about the name change. “We created this platform to help solve some of the problems that we were facing ourselves as we grew D9 Brewing Company. The success that we had there was what made us realize that we could help other companies that are up against the same challenges.”
Having already helped nine beverage companies grow and reach new markets, Bevana is expanding its reach dramatically, with more than a dozen others already committed to joining its growing network. Recently launched partners include Side Hustle Brews, the largest craft brewery in the United Arab Emirates, Fatty’s Beer Works of South Carolina, a noted producer of trending styles, and Tranquilo Hemp Seltzer, a lifestyle brand of non-alcoholic CBD seltzers containing 20 mg of full-spectrum CBD.
In the past, Bevana has concentrated on the traditional retail distribution model, but soon the company will launch its e-commerce platform (about a month or so away).
“Buying alcohol online has always been a frustrating, expensive process for many customers. Individual beverage companies can typically only ship within their state, and it’s a significant burden for them to manage even then. For other marketplaces, oftentimes they either have to warehouse enormous amounts of products that they may never be able to sell, or they have to buy it directly from a retailer. Either way, that’s a lot of added expense that usually gets passed on to the customer,” explained Gore in the press release. “With Bevana, we can offer an unbeatable selection of different beverages without that extra step. That gives us the ability to connect people and makers not only more affordably, but with better quality control, and better service, wherever we ship.”
The Bevana e-commerce platform can ship orders to 44 states, provide a broad selection of beverages from a growing portfolio of styles and categories and directly support independent small businesses from across the beverage industry. Bevana is always looking to partner with beverage makers that have passion, a strong community connection, and a product that they believe in. Want to become a partner and connect with customers you may otherwise never have access to? Contact its business development team here.
Bevana says
Thank you for sharing our story!