California craft brewery Saint Archer made news in September when it announced its partnership with MillerCoors. Tenth and Blake, the craft and import division of MillerCoors, will acquire a majority interest in the San Diego-based brewery.
As craft brews gain sales and market share over mainstream beers, the beer industry is seeing a string of recent acquisitions of craft breweries by beer industry heavyweights such as Anheuser-Busch and Heineken. Saint Archer is the first craft brewery to be acquired by MIllerCoors, and the transaction is expected to be complete this month.
SES followed up with Saint Archer CEO Josh Landan about the deal and what is next for the company.
From start up to acquisition target
We said the acquisition seemed to happen pretty fast. Landan, a former action sports filmmaker and athlete manager, credits the company’s success to a combination of “the right people, the right time, and the right brand.”
Saint Archer launched in April 2013 with a team of 14 investors including pro surfers, skaters, snowboarders and filmmakers including Taylor Steele, Taylor Knox, Mikey Taylor, Paul Rodriquez and Laura Enever.
Landan said Saint Archer started out of a common passion amongst a group of friends. “It was one thing we could all do together without conflict with our current endorsements.”
The staff of about 50 now includes three award-winning brewers – Yiga Miyashiro, Kim Lutz and Greg Peters – as well as beer industry veterans such as Jeff Hansson, who spent several years with Sam Adams.
“There is not a better brew staff, in my opinion, and we’re just focused on making great beer,” said Landan. “It’s been insanely difficult, but it is fun when you have a product you all believe in. We were in a tricky position; we got through two or three capital raises in two years and needed a partner to achieve our goal of being a top 5 craft brand. We needed to partner with someone who could help us continue to grow and make great beer.”
Under the agreement Saint Archer will be run as a separate business unit of Tenth and Blake. The current management team and staff will remain, and decisions relating to marketing, releases of beer, and quality will stay with Landan and his team. Landan said it is the best of both worlds for Saint Archer, allowing the company to operate “as a separate entity, but with the best resources in the world.”
Landan said the immediate goal for Saint Archer after the acquisition is to continue servicing California with beer distribution. He says that Saint Archer is not trying to go national right now, although they do have their sights set on becoming a national brand in the future.
Expanding Saint Archer apparel
Saint Archer also plans to expand the presence of Saint Archer apparel in core surf retail.
The company started selling Saint Archer tees in their La Jolla-based tasting room, and quickly were seeing sales of $15-$20k a month.
Soon Dave Nash, owner of Sun Diego and a fan of Saint Archer, approached Landan and started carrying Saint Archer apparel in his stores. Spyder, ZJ’s, Hobie, Killer Dana, Pharmacy Skate and other core surf retailers started carrying the tees, as well.
“It is insane how it has just really taken off,” said Landan of the apparel. “I still feel like I should know anyone wearing a Saint Archer shirt. We are fortunate to be in some great shops and it has done well for us.”
While Landan says the number one focus always is selling beer, Saint Archer will now have more time and resources to focus on apparel. The company plans to have an in-house team focused on apparel – mainly tees, hoodies and hats, not denim – and said domestic production would be ideal.
Saint Archer also has plans to open a second tasting room in San Diego, this one in Encinitas. Landan said they are also looking at San Francisco and his hometown area of Ventura as possible locations for additional tasting rooms.
