In a dig at Anheuser-Busch InBev’s numerous recent acquisitions of craft breweries, the Brewers Association trade group is launching its own takeover bid that’s more about raising awareness than actually buying the company.
The Colorado-based Brewers Association said it’s seeking to raise $213 billion to buy Belgium-based A-B InBev, the world’s largest brewer, which has its U.S. headquarters in St. Louis. The campaign aligns with the BA’s “purpose to promote and protect America’s small and independent craft brewers,” the nonprofit group says.
In a video and website, takecraftback.com, the Brewers Association said Monday the crowdfunding campaign is designed to make the company “an offer they can’t refuse.”
The takeover bid isn’t really an attempt to buy the maker of Bud Light and Budweiser, and “No money will be collected until we reach $213 billion in pledges …*wink,* you get the picture,” the Brewers Association says on its website.
Blue Point Brewing Company, 10 Barrel Brewing, Elysian Brewing Company and Golden Road Brewing are a few of A-B’s recent craft acquisitions. Its latest craft beer purchase was earlier this year, when it acquired North Carolina’s Wicked Weed Brewing.
“When you think of craft beer, do you think of factories cranking out hundreds of millions of barrels a year, a publicly traded company worth $213 billion? No,” a bearded character named Andy says in the BA’s video while surrounded by flannel-clad brewers. “This time we’re going to take on the oppressive, big beer machine before they can bleed the passion out of the independent craft brewing culture forever.”
As of midday Monday, more than a half million dollars had been pledged in the campaign.
“It’s definitely tongue-in-cheek but about a serious message,” Julia Herz, the Brewers’ Association’s craft beer program director, told the Post-Dispatch. “Frankly, the water’s getting murkier and it’s harder and harder to tell. You can’t tell from the beer label that the beer is brewed by the largest global brewer.”
This summer, the Brewers Association began adding a new logo on beer labels to help beer drinkers distinguish small and financially independent craft brewers from big brewers. Nearly 2,400 U.S. craft breweries have signed on to use the BA’s new seal.
There were 5,562 craft breweries in the U.S., as of June 30, an increase of 906 from mid-year in 2016. There are an additional 2,739 craft breweries planned, according to the BA.
“Craft brewers have a voice and they’re going to use it,” Herz said.
Responding to the ‘takeover’ fundraising campaign, A-B InBev, which is a member of the Brewers Association, said in an emailed statement that the company can take a joke.
“While the fake money for this campaign ‘piles’ up, we will keep focusing our donations on giving back to communities across our country,” A-B’s statement continued, adding the the brewer has donated more than 2.8 million cans of emergency drinking water in 2017, including to disaster response efforts in Texas, Puerto Rico, Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Northern California.
“As a company, with 18,000 U.S. employees and together with our craft partners, we’ve given more than $13 million to worthy causes this year,” A-B spokeswoman Gemma Hart said in the email. “That’s a campaign worth celebrating in my book!”
