Breakthru Colorado Closes CR Goodman Purchase, On Boards 16 New Breweries

Nov. 7, 2016

Breakthru Beverage Colorado is pleased to announce we have closed our purchase of CR Goodman and we are extremely excited to share with you the breweries that will be joining BBC, as well as several key organizational announcements.  

"The breweries had options for distribution in Colorado, so the fact that all 16 are joining BBC is truly remarkable. This is a testament to all of the great work we have done as an organization, over the years, to be the distributor of choice for craft beer in Colorado," said BBC Executive Vice President, Jeremy Tostrup.

Please note most of the breweries will be statewide, exceptions are listed at the end of this article.

Breweries joining the BBC portfolio:

Colorado California Delaware Pennsylvania Missouri Oregon Michigan Imports

Left Hand, Upslope, Funkwerks, Bristol, River North, Odd 13 Stone Brewing, Firestone Walker, North Coast Dogfish Head Victory Boulevard Ninkasi New Holland St. Killian's Importing, S&H Imports

        

These breweries, combined with our existing portfolio, makes BBC the leading craft and import beer distributor in the state of Colorado. 

As our business continues to grow and to guarantee the best route to market for success, now and into the future, we are thrilled to make the following organizational announcements:

• We are very pleased to announce the promotion of Dave Beyer to the Vice President of On Premise for Summit and Apex.  In this new role, Dave will manage the Apex On Premise Spirit and Beer Division, Summit On Premise Wine and the On Premise Business Development team.  We will backfill Dave’s current position as soon as possible. Since joining BBC in 2012, Dave has held various roles, most recently leading the on premise business development team, which has had tremendous success leveraging the strength of the BBC portfolio in new accounts, large buying groups, and large independent accounts. Dave has been and will continue to be a driving force in shaping our direction and growing our share in the on premise. I would like to thank Martin Chambers and John Westhead for their outstanding leadership and work with the Summit Wine On Premise Division. Under their leadership, combined with the superb efforts and hard work of Matt Jones and his team, our on premise wine business continues to pick up share and move in the right direction. With the expanded role of the chains in Colorado we are asking Martin and John to play an integral role in how we will go to market as an organization in the future. Additionally, Martin will have an expanded role as the key legislative contact for Breakthru Beverage Colorado.  In this capacity, Martin will work closely with our corporate legislative teams and personnel in the state on key legislative issues.

• We are also thrilled to announce the promotion of Therese Rednor to the On Premise Area Manager for Beer and Craft Spirits.  Over the past 5 years, Therese has been a key player in helping grow our overall beer business. In this new role, Therese will oversee an ADS manager and two Beer and Craft Spirits ADS’s, which will allow for key focus in our top on premise beer and craft spirits accounts. Therese is extremely well respected in the beer industry and has demonstrated a great work ethic.  She will also continue to manage the draught department with Scott Porter. Therese will report to Michael McCullough, On Premise Division Manager for Apex Spirits and Beer.  

• As the business continues to grow in the Apex division, we want to guarantee success with our existing core and gem suppliers, as well as the emerging beer and crafts spirits category.  We are announcing the creation of an Off Premise Beer and Craft Spirits division to ensure we have the greatest dedication against our core spirits business, while maximizing the growth potential of beer and craft spirits.

• We are happy to announce the promotion of Kevin Freudenberg to Off Premise Beer and Craft Spirits Front Range Division B Manager reporting to Mark Krantz. In this new role Kevin will manage a team of 3 FSM’s, strictly dedicated to beer and craft spirits.   Kevin has done an outstanding job as a Field Sales Manager and we look forward to his continued success in this new role. As part of growth in the beer business, we will also be adding a Front Range beer only merchandising team, with more details in the coming weeks. Donna Kaplan will remain as the Off Premise Spirits Division Manager.  

• We are pleased to announce that Dave Watson will be joining us from CR Goodman as a beer Business Manager.  Dave will be responsible for all of the new breweries coming over from CR Goodman.  Dave has over 25 years of beer industry experience and was the General Manager at CR Goodman.  He has incredible experience with the new breweries which will allow for a smooth transition of those brands into BBC. Additionally, we will add a new beer and craft spirits business manager position to help Ryan MacIsaac with the existing breweries and Phil Sauer with the existing craft spirit suppliers. Overall, one of the key goals in the purchase of CR Goodman was to have the ability to utilize and leverage some of the existing CRG associates.  Over the course of the past 6 weeks, countless hours have been spent working in all areas of our business to interview and determine who will be the best fit for some of the new positions.  We are happy to announce that several key personnel from CR Goodman will be joining the BBC team.  In the coming weeks, there will more announcements on these positions.

This is a huge win for Breakthru Beverage Colorado and we could not be more excited about the future of our business.