Case: New Belgium Brewing

What environmental issues does the New Belgium Brewing Company work to address? How has NBB taken a strategic approach to addressing these issues? Why do you think the company has taken such a strong stance toward sustainability?

Boston Beer Company (BBC) has enjoyed much success with their craft beers with Samuel Adams as their main focus. Being the leader of this segment, overtopping five of their competitors combined (Exhibit 1), the company now must decide how to take advantage of the light beer market. Boston Lightship, their current light beer, had been a small contributor in BBC’s product line. Currently, it is facing dwindling sales with product volumes down from 12 000 cases per month to 3000 cases per month.

Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company, located in Kiln, MS, is the first microbrewery in the state and specializes in manufacturing and distributing beers with distinct southern flavors. The brewing company, established in 2003, has found success within its home state and within restaurants and retailers situated in eighteen more states. These locations include the surrounding southern states and states as far north as New York and Illinois according to its website, Lazymagnolia.com. The following SWOT analysis will evaluate the internal strengths and weaknesses of the company as well as the external opportunities and threats experienced within the market and business environment.

Throughout most of its history, the Coors Brewing Company (Coors) has been a regionalized brewer within the United States, specializing in high-quality beer through by virtue of its source water selection, stringent production standards, and cold filtered brewing approach. As the company expanded its distribution to new markets within the U.S. in attempt to gain market share, it made a strategic decision to maintain a majority of its brewing operations at its primary production facility in Golden, Colorado. This decision was based upon the desire to preserve its core production strengths through close family control. However, as the company desires to expand its market presence beyond the

Both systems have their advantages and disadvantages, the labor-based allocation method provides a fast straightforward method for businesses with labor intensive processes that in many businesses make up the majority of these costs. For this microbrewery however, especially within overheads the percentage of costs labor attributes towards is relatively minimal. Therefore reducing the effectiveness of such a method. ABC however represents a more in depth look at cost allocation and within such a business where there are a huge variety of factors involved looking at a more segmented form of activity based cost allocation is extremely important.

First, they can try to reduce carbon footprint by better processing and producing the beverages; before doing that, they should go through the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions assessment to know the size of a carbon footprint in the brewery. Reducing electricity and water bills would benefit the company too since it will save them money and energy. The CEO should also encourage employees to carpool together or take the public transportation since it is more "green" than everyone commuting to work in separate cars. Finally, they could put solar panels on the building, but it may be an expensive option. While addressing to climate change shows that the brewery gives attention to preserving nature, they may have to spend more money and time which might be a financial risk to the brewery. However, they may gain more customers so they would earn much more money

New Belgium Brewing try to reduce its negative impact from the natural environment. New Belgium Brewing (NBB) invest in a wind turbine, making it the first fully wind powered brewery in the United States. NBB has also invested a mist condenser that helps to reuses of hot water used for boiling barley and hops to create the after that brew. This steam also helps to heat the floor tiles and de-ice the room in during winter. NBB has also many other energy saving processes like use of daylight. I think that the company has chosen to focus on the environment because of the type of their business is unethical. From my view point its master product Tobacco and Brew both r harmful for society and environment. I think it just a way of advertising. We know Prevention is better than cure. SoI think it’s better to do something for environment without doing harmful activities

New Belgium has created a mission statement that is implemented in every facility and among every worker within the company. The company embraces the idea that they are a small company and promotes the sale of their products by creating a mission statement that is appealing to customers. A well thought of mission statement serves as a guide for the company and customers to understand the direction the company wants to progress in as well as develop a company purpose (Bartkus, Glassman, and McAfee, 2000). New Belgium’s mission statement is “to operate a profitable brewery which makes our love and talent manifest” (Ferrell and Hartline, 2005, p. 354). Therefore, the mission statement is one way for the company to express how whimsy and fun the

The Coors Brewing Company was founded back in 1873 by two German immigrants Adolph Coors and Jacob Schueler. The two combined invested $20,000, $18,000 of which came from Schueler and the other $2,000 from Coors. The location of the brewery was in the mining town of Golden, Colorado. This location was picked because Mr. Coors believed the key ingredient in beer was the water source. The river that flowed through this mining town was perfect for his beer. The two investors worked together for seven years until Coors bought out Schueler and became the sole owner of the brewery in 1880. When prohibition finally hit Colorado in the year 1916, Mr. Coors was forced to find other means of making money. The brewery was converted to produce malted milk which he would then sell to candy companies. Four years after Adolph Coors passing, in 1929, prohibition is ended and his son, Adolph Coors Jr., takes over the family business. The distribution range of the company quickly expands and by 1948, it stretches across 11 states. It would remain this way for almost 30 years before they start to expand to try and reach a nationwide audience. In 2005, now in its fourth generation of Coors family management, the Coors Brewing Company votes to merge with Molson Brewing Company in Canada to form the Molson Coors Brewing Company. Together they are the world’s seventh largest brewer. Two years later

Molson Coors is a thriving international brewing company that has nine Signature Brew drinks and 123 Special Brew drinks that ranges from non-alcoholic to alcoholic (Molson Coors Brewing Company, 2016b). They have multiple markets around the world which contributes to the success of the company in the brewing industry. This report analyzes Molson Coors’ internal and external environments which determines their position in the brewing industry. It also discusses strategies the company uses in order to be successful in their industry. Molson Coors shares the industry with its main competitors but has its own uniqueness that makes its business stand out. Molson Coors is a successful business that presents opportunities for economic growth.

Boston Beer, in response to consumers’ preference changes to more flavorful and bitter tasting brews, was founded in 1894. Boston Beer implements a “quality at any cost” strategy with a strong emphasis on product differentiation and implementing quality ingredients into its products. For instance, Boston Beer was the first company to employ a stamped freshness date on its bottles and ingredients are imported from around the world. Additionally, Boston Beer relies heavily on contract brewing to gain competitive advantages. Boston Beer’s contract brewing strategy results in lower overhead and transportation costs, as well as

New Belgium brewery has increasingly grew throughout the years since their development in 1991. Despite the dominance of the “Big Three” (Budweiser, Miller, and Coors), NBB needs to be aggressive and strive to invest in the attractive beer industry in able to grow more. If positioned correctly, NBB and its main brand, Fat Tire, can continually grow. An evaluation of the industry, the business itself, its brands, and the customers and competitors is needed in order to be continuously successful.

1. What environmental issues does the new belgium brewing company work to address? How does NBB taken a strategic approach to addressing these issues? Why do you think the company has taken such a strong stance toward sustainability?

Let us face the fact, the world will not be around forever, but with the right practices we can keep it around longer. Big companies use big energy, they provide the public with many services and products, but need more energy to do it. The push to become more self-sufficient and use more renewable energy is stronger than ever. We are seeing the “go green” movement taking the US by storm with more and more companies each year deciding to make the switch. Companies are seeing that the public is very receptive to companies that are environmentally focused and conscious about communities. The New Belgium Brewing Company is special

Through their brand recognition, New Belgium Brewery has won the beer battle between most of their competitors. Beer connoisseurs know New Belgium Brewery by their infamous New Belgium Fat Tire. Fat Tire has helped New Belgium gain a competitive advantage because of the beers high demand. Also, New Belgium’s social responsibility is a major part of why they obtain the competitive advantage over their competitors. New Belgium is a simple company that portrays an economical friendly production, a strong family back- round, and consumer-based market strategy. New Belgium focuses on three responsibilities, social responsibility, employee responsibility, and environmental responsibility. Also, because of their focuses, they have become one of the top competitors to other craft beer