For Episode 181 of Amplify Your Business, we’re joined by Ted Fleming, the CEO of Partake Brewing. Partake Brewing started in Ted’s basement (and garage) as a solution to his own problem of not being able to consume alcohol any longer due to a Crohn’s Disease diagnosis. From its meager beginnings in Ted’s house in 2017 to two manufacturing and processing plants - one in Toronto and one in Calgary - Partake has quickly become a household name for non-alcoholic brews. Partake’s Pale Ale even won the World Beer Award for Best Non-Alcoholic Beer.

00:00 - Intro 

01:01 - In your experience, what are three things that every entrepreneur needs to know?

03:49 - Can you tell us a little bit about your Pale Ale?

05:42 - What is the process for removing the alcohol from your beers?

08:11 - Tell us the story of how Partake Brewing was born.

09:55 - So Partake started in Toronto and expanded into Calgary, and now you’re manufacturing in both provinces, right?

10:35 - Do you have any competitors in Canada in the exclusively non-alcoholic brewing space?

11:27 - Being the first in this category, did it make it easier to get penetration into distribution?

12:58 - Being in the non-alcohol beer industry, what does your distribution look like? Do you sell in more than just liquor stores?

14:32 - Are you finding that growth in your category of the beer market is growing at the same rate as the rest of the craft beers or faster?

17:32 - When you were first starting out, did you have enough foresight to understand all of the potential advantages - from a market standpoint?

19:52 - In the early days of Partake, what thought did you put into building a community around your brand, and how has that changed over time?

21:50 - Can you share with us any of the ways in which you continue to grow your community engagement as you’ve grown?

22:52 - Was it difficult for you, as a craft brewery, to expand your manufacturing and processing to two different locations on opposite sides of the country?

24:40 - What challenges would you be facing that other single-location craft breweries don’t face?

25:30 - With two locations on opposite sides of the country, are you now facing double the supply chain issues that many other businesses in Canada have been facing?

26:37 - If you could write your past self a letter, what would it say?

27:43 - Do “Thinking big,” and “keeping it simple” contradict each other, or are you able to still manage both philosophies?

28:32 - What is easier now, at this point in your journey, than what it was at earlier stages in your business?

29:32 - If you had $1 Million at the start of your journey with Partake Brewing, what would you have done differently?

31:43 - How did you manage to achieve such rapid growth with Partake Brewing in such a short period of time?

34:49 - Who or what inspires you?

35:45 - Where can we find Partake Brewing products?

38:17 - Outro