From Bloomberg:
MillerCoors LLC has a message for beer snobs: Blue Moon is an authentic craft brew. So show a little respect.
Aficionados long ago dubbed Blue Moon an impostor cooked up by a megabrewer to exploit the explosive growth of artisanal beer. In recent months, small beermakers have stepped up their attacks -- calling suds like Blue Moon “crafty” for not spelling out their corporate parentage. Micro breweries have reason to be defensive: Blue Moon has grabbed what equals 15 percent of the U.S. craft market, expanded as far as Japan and spawned an Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI) knockoff called Shock Top.
After years of quietly building its brand in the shadow of MillerCoors, Blue Moon is fighting back against the naysayers. It’s adding more artisanal brews, including a wine hybrid. Marketing emphasizes the beer’s provenance and Belgian-trained brewmaster. Blue Moon is even taking credit for helping to popularize craft.
“We should be proud to make beers that grow and are popular -- that’s the American way,” MillerCoors Chief Executive Officer Tom Long said in a interview. “Being small and unpopular, what’s the utility in that?”
Blue Moon’s decision to confront its critics is a tactical necessity. The brand is the centerpiece of MillerCoors’ Tenth & Blake Beer Co., created to capitalize on the rapid growth of craft and import brews and offset slowing sales of light beers.
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