Mountain Man Brewing Company Case Analysis

4c. What is the likely future of competitive brewers? What is MMBC 's market/competitive position?

Per capita beer consumption in the country had been stable for many years. In order to find new opportunities

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“The great beer abandonment: America’s young drinkers are drinking wine and hard alcohol instead”. In recent years, many young adults’ ages 18-29 years old are not drinking as much beer as the same age group twenty years ago. In 1992 over seventy percent of this age said that beer was their beverage of choice. That number has now drop to forty percent. The percentage of hard alcohol preference has risen from thirteen percent to thirty percent. While wine preference has also increased from fifteen percent to twenty three percent. Young adult are not the only one whose preference has changed. The United States, has been drinking less and less beer for the past decade. Nationwide, beer consumption fell by nearly 9 percent between 2002 and 2012. Majority of decline is due to the preference of young drinker. People ages 30-49 only decline about three percent, while people ages 50 plus have remain the same. It is odd to see a decline in beer with the emergence of craft beer. For years it has gaining market share but many believe that it has hit its peak. "While we 're not there yet, we 're definitely approaching bubble territory," said Spiros Malandrakis, Alcoholic Drinks Analyst at Euromonitor International. What could be the reason for the decline?

In 1925, the Mountain Man Brewing Company created a new taste of beer. The company specializes in producing Mountain Man Lager that is a family owned recipe that has a unique bitter award-winning taste. Mountain Man Brewing Company holds a strong brand name in the premium beer segment of the beer industry. MMBC Lager Beer has won several awards and has high brand recognition in the region that it operates. Since 1960, MMBC has distributed lager beer primarily in the Midwest distributing products in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia. MMBC Lager is a strong hoppy beer that is preferred by customers in the working class that are between 55 and 60 years. Over 70% of MMBC sales are generated out of liquor stores. Mountain Man Brewing Company Lager is MMBC only product. In 2005, MMBC Lager sold 520,000 barrels and generated $50 million in revenue. By identifying the facts of the Mountain Man Brewing Company’s case and the problems and why they exists it will be possible to determine solutions for MMBC 's situation to define the direction the company will need to take to ensure future success.

Boston Beer Company should then conduct regional market studies to determine potential flavors for each specific region based off existing local craft breweries and popular regional flavor combinations. Each smaller market study should be conducted by local consulting firms who already have an understanding of the demographics and culture of the region they are studying. These studies should be

To further decrease the likelihood of cannibalization and to diversify its location offerings and customer base, the memorandum recommends that MMBC launch MMLight into on-premise locations (such as bars and restaurants). Industry observers remark that the crucial consumer segment for beer companies are younger drinkers ages 21-27 years who are not yet loyal to a brand of beer. Women and younger drinkers typically prefer light beer. These groups frequently visit on-premise locations and represent an exciting market for MMBC. For questions or concerns, please feel free to e-mail mducker2@illinois.edu or call 217.381.9578.

As time had progressed on, new trends of beer drinkers transitioned a decline in selling performance for the first time ever in the Mountain Man Brewery Company. The decline revealed a weakness within the company that only brought forth fear of the unknown future of the company’s product and brand. Oscar had recently hired the next generation on MMBC his son Chris to manage the marketing operations. Chris had presented to his father the possible expansion of introducing a new beverage of choice for the upcoming beer drinkers. Recent research amongst beer drinker’s uncovered potential growth for MMBC and the fear of eroding the historical brand of loyalty.

Several attempts have been made by Boston Beer Company to continue on a growth streak but not all attempts have been successful. The main goals for Boston Beer Company are to increase revenue and continue growing in the industry. Boston Beer Company has had trouble growing as barriers of entry are low and competition is high. Even though the market has seen a slight upturn, however Boston Beer’s founder Jim Koch elaborates on the company’s dissatisfaction, “We are disappointed with our depletion trends in 2016, which have remained weak so far in 2017. These trends are affected by the general softening of the craft-beer category and cider category and a more challenging retail environment with a lot of new options for our drinkers”. (https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/02/22/boston-beer-finds-growth-the-hard-way.aspx)

Mountain man Brewing Company was founded in 1925. The company specializes in producing Mountain Man Lager that is a family owned recipe that has a unique bitter award winning taste. Mountain Man Brewing Company holds a strong brand name in the premium beer segment of the beer industry. MMBC lager Beer has won several awards and has high brand recognition in the region that it operates. Since 1960, MMBC has operated primarily in the Midwest distributing product in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia. MMBC Lager is a strong hoppy beer that is preferred by customers in the working class that are between 55 and 60 years of age out of liquor stores. Mountain Man Brewing Company Lager is MMBC only product. In 2005, MMBC Lager sold 520,000 barrels and generates $50 million in revenue. By identifying the facts of the of the Mountain Man Brewing company, identifying the problems and why they exist, additional information needed, possible solutions for the problem, the pros and cons of each option, determine a direction for the company, and ways to measure the future result it will be possible to identify if the light beer industry will be a market for MMBC to enter.

Mountain Man Brewing Company is considering an expansion of its product line due to declining revenues. The family owned beer producer has built a strong brand around its prize product, Mountain Man Lager, over its last 70+ years of operation. Due to its highly valued brand, the organization is particularly fearful of the negative effect alternating its product mix could have on its reputation and image and the potential for customer alienation.

As you are aware, Mountain Man Brewing Company (MMBC) is a craft brewing and local distribution company located in West Virginia. Its signature product, Mountain Man lager, features a distinctive bitter taste. It is a product that has garnered for the company regional acclaim, a loyal customer base, and numerous awards. This company developed a brand image and reputation among the blue collared and middle age men, while maintaining the unique and authentic family business model based on quality and toughness. In 2005 Mountain Man was generating revenues of 50 million dollars, selling 520,000 barrels. That said, changes in the market have affected MMBC capital. MMBC is experiencing a decline in revenue and market share. It is

I believe Mountain Man should introduce a light beer to make up for the loss of sales. The introduction into the market should be done with soft marketing in the core area that Mountain Man Lager is the strongest, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. I am recommending

Within the craft beer market, consumers have many products to chose. A product is anything offered within a market that which fulfills a want or need (Armstrong & Kotler, 2015). In 2012, over 1,750 breweries operated in the United States (U.S.), with over 1,920 the following year (Brewers,

Beer Company 1 is a “national brewer of mass-market consumer beers sold under a variety of brand names” (pg. 120). As one might expect, this national company has “an extensive network of breweries and distribution systems and owns some beer-related businesses” (pg. 120). It also owns several major theme parks.