Beer Marketer's Insights - CO Craft Cos' New Dancin' Partners; Dry Dock Acquired Equity in Left Hand Parent Co as Great Divide Joined Platform with Denver Beer

There's been a lotta action with Colorado craft-on-craft partnerships over the last couple yrs, and some of that led to multiple deals struck within days of each other this week. First, Great Divide was acquired by budding platform Wilding Brands, which formed in the last year with Denver Beer Co, Formation Brewing, Stem Ciders, Howdy Beer, Funkwerks, Cerveceria Colorado, and Easy Living Hop Water, cos announced yesterday. While Great Divide taprooms are expected to stay open, Great Divide production will move to Wilding Canworks facility in Denver's Sunnyside nabe. Yet Great Divide was producing another sizable local craft brand, Dry Dock, after cos struck a strategic partnership in Nov 2023. Dry Dock closed its own production facility and moved all of its volume to Great Divide's brewery at the time. So Dry Dock hadda figure out next steps separately from Great Divide. Just one day after Great Divide deal was made public, Dry Dock and Left Hand announced merger where Dry Dock's two owners acquired equity in Left Hand Brewing parent co Indian Peaks Brewing Company, combining their organizations and "immediately" moving "all brewing production and packaging to Left Hand's Longmont facility."In this more challenging period for CO craft (and craft more broadly), everyone's trying to rightsize their orgs and figure out best paths forward for sustainable, profitable operations, often leading to cos joining forces in various ways. Suddenly, much like MA mkt, CO has multiple consolidators emerging in the brewing and beverage space, with big, medium-sized, and smaller cos all getting in on the action. Large cos like Monster Brewing (Oskar Blues) and Tilray (Breckenridge) have presence in CO, tho both cos are increasingly focused on a wide spectrum of brands across the country. CO's Upslope and ID's Payette formed a strategic partnership to pool resources together, and Telluride Brewing moved over 80% of its production to Ska Brewing. On smaller scales, Denver-based TRVE Brewing moved production to New Image Brewing, and Westbound & Down continues to expand its brewpub operation after buying Aspen Brewing and Capitol Creek Brewery. Prost Brewing and 4 Noses continue to seek contract brewing relationships after opening larger facilities. And CO's Sleeping Giant built a sizable biz as solely a contract brewing co.Going forward, both Wilding Brands and Left Hand/Dry Dock are actively seeking more potential deals. So CO could remain a hotbed for M&A action. Read on.

CO Craft Cos' New Dancin' Partners; Dry Dock Acquired Equity in Left Hand Parent Co as Great Divide Joined Platform with Denver Beer

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