Five Questions with Therese Rednor, Craft Beer Specialist

Dec. 29, 2015

Therese Rednor is a Breakthru Beverage Craft Beer Specialist in one of the most competitive craft beer markets in the U.S. – Colorado.

A Cicerone Program Certified Beer Server, Rednor has over 15 years of experience in the craft beer industry, working in all levels of the three-tier system as a brand manager, retail buyer and On Premise manager. In her current role as a Craft Beer Specialist, Rednor continues to work within multiple levels of the beer industry, managing supplier relationships and the company’s impressive craft and import beer portfolio. Rendor also leads much of Breakthru Colorado’s ‘Journey in Beer program,’ which provides in-depth style education for Breakthru employees.

As 2015 winds down and OND comes to a close, Rendor offers some of her own insights into what the future of the rapidly evolving craft beer industry might look like in 2016, both in Colorado and nationally.

Colorado is known as one of the most robust craft beer states in the U.S. Why do you think the industry has such a strong foothold in the state?

Culturally, Colorado is very favorable to beer. People out here are a little bit more adventurous and experimental by nature, which allowed the craft beer movement to get a very early lead here in Colorado. New Belgium opened up in Fort Collins in the late 1980s which introduced new beer styles that really piqued people’s interests. Then other breweries like Odell and Boulder Beer Co. followed shortly after. Add in that the Brewers Association is based out here in Boulder and that we’re home to the Great American Beer Festival, it is easy to see just how much craft beer is woven into Colorado.

Even our governor used to be a home brewer and started off in the beer industry as the owner of Wynkoop Brewing Co.

Breakthru Colorado has an incredibly strong Import portfolio. How is that leveraged in a market that is filled with great, local breweries?

One thing I think we have done really well is develop very strong relations with the right type of breweries. Our import portfolio includes breweries that have a history, a story that has a historical reference behind it that can be leveraged, like Weihenstephan being the oldest brewery in the world. We have a lot of partners that have that pedigree.

On the sales side, we teach our teams to not only know the story and the value behind these breweries, but also be able to very clearly describe and explain the tasting in a very educated way. Consumers’ palates lately have gotten so blown over-the-top with the hoppy IPA movement that it is really important, with the imports, to explain why they taste the way they do and to then reinforce how that is a great point of differentiation with your customers. A Samuel Smith India Pale Ale will not taste like an Odell IPA. They are two completely different styles, and therefore you can have both of those styles represented at your account, allowing you to hit a wider consumer-base. It really does come down to being educated on your products and brands so that you can then pass that knowledge onto your buyers who will then use it with consumers.

Recently there has been a lot of talk about the craft beer “bubble” popping because of market oversaturation. Do you think that is a real possibility? 

Personally, I think the craft beer bubble will eventually pop. I really do. You look through social media and you see all of these breweries popping up and most of them are very tiny. You have to think to yourself: How long are you going to survive? These tiny breweries keep popping up in strip malls and industrial corridors – anywhere they can get some real estate – and I think to myself eventually these smaller breweries are not going to be able to stay open because there are just not enough consumers out there to keep moving through their product. I don’t know when it will happen, but I think that tipping point is coming. I think some are just naturally going to have to fall out.

The breweries that are established and can be nimble enough to create new styles and develop new packaging pretty quickly and have the feet-on-the-street working with reps out there, those are the breweries that will absolutely survive without question. We work with eight Colorado breweries here and all eight of them aren’t just going to survive, they’re going to thrive.

What are some of the more surprising craft beer trends you saw in 2015?

In Colorado, cans really became key. They are easy to transport for those who are more active, and the package itself is better for the beer in that it keeps light out.

Variety packs are also really getting hot out here. Despite them being sensitively priced because of the amount of labor that goes into creating a variety pack, they continue to sell really well.

The more frustrating trend that I’ve seen is one called “rotation nation.” Rarely do I hear the term “permanent line” anymore. Every tap handle is up for grabs at all times and we are constantly fighting for space. There is not a lot of loyalty anymore in the On Premise market. There is some brand loyalty, but never style loyalty anymore. Consumers constantly want to try something new. They are always searching for the next big thing and this is leading to the beer menu at most On Premise locations being constantly changed day after day.

What are your predictions for the craft beer industry in 2016?

I definitely see some more breweries selling [to larger companies]. Ballast Point selling to Constellation Brands for $1 billion dollars had opened a lot of eyes, and I think we’re going to see a lot more deals like that in the near future. There are still a lot of investment groups looking for ways to get into the beer business.

I personally don’t think the session IPA trend is going to continue. We do have a lot of breweries bringing session IPAs into the market and that style definitely has a summer seasonality to it, but in Colorado I see consumers out here trending more towards those big, sometimes wacky Belgian ales. It will be an interesting year to watch the push-and-pull between what consumers want to drink and what breweries are pushing on them.