Athletic Brewing Co is in growth mode. Here are a few examples. In 2021, just four years after its start, Athletic Brewing surpassed 100,000 bbls, something only a few dozen of the nation’s thousands of other craft breweries have ever achieved. When the Brewers Association released its annual production figures for the U.S. craft brewing industry for 2021, Athletic Brewing Co.. ranked No. 27 on the Top 50 list of the biggest craft brewers (craft defined here) in America by sales volume. This was the first time a dedicated non-alcoholic beer maker had ever made the list, let alone ranked at No 27.
This speaks to the impressive growth of the non-alcoholic beer sector over the last few years and also the great beer Athletic is creating. Its Hazy IPA is easily one the best offerings in the market — while its flagships Run Wild and Upside Dawn are its most popular.
It doesn’t stop there of course. This summer Athletic Brewing was available on-premise in cans at over 1,000 Buffalo Wild Wings locations nationwide. The company just announced that it has achieved Certified B Corporation status. For Earth Day, Athletic pledged $1 million to grantee winners for its outdoors-focused give back program — Two for the Trails. The brand has a lot of momentum right now, and it still has plenty of new spaces to enter.
“Although we’ve experienced incredible growth over the last four years, our products are still only available in roughly 10% of retail stores,” said Athletic Brewing founder and CEO Bill Shufelt. “However, that’s changing rapidly as more retailers reevaluate their shelves in order to appeal to mindful consumers.”
That quote comes from Athletic’s latest press release announcing the launch of Fit For All Times, a new brand campaign from America’s biggest maker of craft NA beer. The campaign features NFL star J.J. Watt and chef and entrepreneur David Chang, both of whom were early investors in the brewery. Watch the video above.
“This campaign features world-class professionals enjoying our award-winning NA beer while still performing at their best,” said Athletic Brewing chief marketing officer Andrew Katz. “We all know that time is our most precious resource, and how we spend that time is important. That’s why we developed a great-tasting product that won’t ever hold you back.”
Developed in partnership with Boston-based creative agency FairFolk, the Fit For All Times campaign also spotlights Athletic-sponsored athletes Carlin Isles, Malia Manuel, Falyn Fonoimoana and Emily Day. The ads will run across numerous channels including national cable TV, YouTube, paid digital and organic social media. The campaign is expected to generate 200 million impressions.
The launch of the new campaign comes after a year where Athletic Brewing grew its volume by 177 percent, to 104,000 bbls. Led by flagships Run Wild and Upside Dawn, Athletic has increased off-premise retail sales by more than 100 percent in 2022 and is now the third largest non-alcoholic beer brand in the country.
Athletic was recently named the 26th fastest-growing private company in America by Inc. Magazine after growing revenue by 13,071 percent between 2018 and 2021. The company is in the process of filling out its national distribution footprint, and its non-alcoholic beers will be available in all 50 states before the end of 2022. Founded by Shufelt and John Walker in 2017, Athletic Brewing boasts large-scale production breweries on both coasts. Its newest brewery in Milford, Conn., spans 150,000 sq ft and will eventually be capable of producing upwards of 450,000 bbls annually.
Those are all impressive numbers. We’ll keep you updated on the brand’s progress.
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