Business of Drinks 14: How Athletic Brewing’s Bill Shufelt Built a $500M Non-Alc Beer Company - Business of Drinks
Bill Shufelt, co-founder of Athletic Brewing, hasn’t just built a successful drinks company — he’s revolutionized the entire American market for non-alcoholic beer. And he’s done it in just six years.
Bill gave up a comfortable life in finance because he knew that if he was interested in drinking non-alcoholic beer, other people would be too. But it was an uphill battle, because non-alc beer has been a stigmatized product in the U.S. almost since Prohibition. He was turned down by almost every brewer he approached, and at times was reduced to approaching strangers in liquor store parking lots to help him sell his product.
Today, Athletic Brewing has grown to become the 13th-largest U.S. craft brewery and the second-largest non-alcoholic beer brand in the U.S. In 2022, Athletic was ranked as the 26th fastest-growing private company in America by Inc. Magazine and named one of TIME’s “100 Most Influential Companies.”
Join us for a fascinating conversation, as Bill explains how he built the company, and where he sees the market going next.
Key Insights:
Why non-alc beer is a major volume saver for retail and on-premise accounts.
How Athletic got its first Whole Foods placement (awesome story!).
How 66 individual investors took Athletic from its Seed Round all the way to Series B.
Why DTC is the best channel for innovation.
What the U.S. non-alc drinks segment can learn from their counterparts in Europe.
The path Athletic sees for NA beer to grow to 10-20% of all adult beverages.
Stay tuned for our next episode dropping on November 29.
Shoutout to our sponsor! A big round of thanks to AccelPay — a leading ecommerce solution for bev-alc brands. From a one-tap, compliant checkout to comprehensive sales data, AccelPay has you covered and can make your existing website a storefront. For an exclusive 10% off your account, visit: https://www.accelpay.io/bod
About Erica Duecy, host:
Erica Duecy is co-founder of Business of Drinks, a podcast and content consultancy, and one of the drinks industry’s most accomplished digital and content strategists. She has built publishing and marketing programs for Drizly, VinePair, SevenFifty, and other hospitality and drinks tech companies. She also has led digital editorial teams at Architectural Digest and Saveur magazines. Her content, podcast, and video programs have won more than 40 digital and editorial awards. She is a WSET Advanced-certified wine and spirits communicator, and author of the cocktail book Storied Sips (Random House), about the real-life stories behind the world’s most famous cocktails.
To learn more about Erica Duecy:
https://www.instagram.com/ericaduecy/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-duecy-4a35844/
https://twitter.com/ericaduecy
About Felicity Carter, host:
Felicity Carter is co-founder of Business of Drink and the Editorial Director of Areni Global, the London-based fine wine think tank. Previously, she was Editor-in-Chief of Meininger’s Wine Business International, a trade magazine she built into a global must-read, with subscribers in 38 countries. She is a regular media commentator, appearing on platforms as diverse as CNN, France24 and the New York Times, and has consulted to New Zealand Wine and the Dutch government. Felicity is an international wine judge as well as a regular keynote speaker at the wine industry’s biggest conferences and events. Her work has appeared in The Guardian US, The Sydney Morning Herald and numerous other publications.
To learn more about Felicity Carter:
https://twitter.com/felicitycarter
https://www.linkedin.com/in/felicity-carter-a5754380/
https://www.instagram.com/carter.felicity/
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