Interview: New Belgium Brewing CEO Christine Perich
October 16, 2015Christine Perich was recently named CEO of Fort Collins, Colorado’s New Belgium Brewing, the fourth-largest craft brewer in the country. Perich joined New Belgium in 2000 as controller and was president and COO before taking on her new role. She recently spoke to SND about the company’s business, including the planned opening of its second brewery in Asheville, North Carolina early next year.
SND: New Belgium had volume of 945,000 barrels last year. What’s the company’s projection for 2015?
Perich: It’s probably going to come in around 930,000 barrels this year. Last year, we grew substantially and it was semi-painful for us. We’re at maximum capacity in Fort Collins and we’re trying to get Asheville up and running so we’ve been very thoughtful about how we manage volume this year.
SND: First down year for the company?
Perich: Yes, but it’s really a capacity-management year. We’re using a lot of our resources in Fort Collins to get Asheville going, so we couldn’t have the pedal down as hard as we did last year. Beyond 2016, we’ll have the capacity in Asheville and the ability to ramp up that site. We can definitely hit our million-barrel goal.
SND: Ranger IPA was a 2014 Impact Hot Brand, up 20% to 1.6 million cases. How is it faring this year, particularly given all the competition in the IPA category?
Perich: Ranger IPA is doing well. Our entire hoppy portfolio continues to grow. We have Slow Ride out now, our session IPA, and that’s also done very well.
SND: New Belgium beers are available in about 40 states. What are your plans for reaching national distribution?
Perich: We intend to continue to open states and fill out our national footprint, probably by early 2018.
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Tagged : beer, craft beer, New Belgium, New Belgium Brewing
