--- Panel ---

Harry is joined by Bill Shufelt of non-alc brewer Athletic Brewing Co. on their meteoric growth over the past four years, along with editors Jenn Litz-Kirk and Jordan Driggers.

---Time-Stamped Contents ---

00:00 Intro - hilarious and interesting banter. 

02:40 origin story of founders bill shufelt/john walker and athletic brewing. 

05:20 addressing "pain point" of not having good non-alc alternative to drinking. 

06:00 going from pain point to intellectual curiosity to passion. 

10:00 people are watching inputs into their lives compared to outputs. 

11:10 bws companies fighting over the same 2-3 days a week.  non-alc beer first incremental occasion driver. 

13:20 giving heiney 0.0 props. 

14:00 how big is big for non-alc brew? 

15:25 the marketing has to be there too. 

15:40 craft brewers have hit a wall as they haven't added new drinkers/occasions. 

16:10 athletic as lifestyle marketer. 

16:30 non-alc beer has to be actively marketed, often face-to-face

17:50 bill welcomes new entrants to raise category awareness. 

18:20 how much interaction with cannabis?

20:00 going from 'cans in hands' marketing to real marketing -- multimillion-dollar marketing budget, addition of andrew katz from heineken. 

20:40 athletic under-distributed at top 25 brand at only 7% acv distribution. 

21:20 hop sparkling water and other innovations coming, something mysterious in march. 

22:00 growing big manufacturing capabilities in short time challenge. 

23:05 where is shelf space coming from?  (whole foods non-alc space up 100%).

24:35 on-premise small but growing, 4 to 8% of business. 

25:50 grokking dtc vs dsd. 

27:30 ecomm side directs them where demand is. 

29:20 leveraging dry january and sober october to trial and retain new customers.

31:30 why not call out the low calorie count?

33:10 regulations, cleaning, making non-alc harder than alc. 

34:10 like energy drinks or seltzers, non-alc will have 2-3 main players, shakeout of the rest. 

34:25 losta barriers to entry  - hard to make. 

35:15 how bill picks distributors.

37:00 no franchise, but utilizes strong contracts. 

38:00 looking ahead and a message of hope. 

---About---

Beer Business Daily publisher Harry Schuhmacher joins his editors and other guests 2 times a week as they grok the industry issues of the day.  

-Podcast Hotline: Text or call Harry in confidence at:‪ (262) 345-2501‬

-Audio/Video feeds at HarrysPod.com

-Articles referenced at beernet.com

-Twitter / IG / TikTok:  @beerbizdaily