From Green Flash:
As Green Flash Brewing Co. gears up for a busy fourth quarter, Co-Founder and CEO, Mike Hinkley, shares an update on overall brand growth including on-premise sales, 1-year in with Alpine Beer Company, Virginia Beach expansion, and an announcement about the company’s newly appointed COO, Chris Ross.
While draft beer sales comprise approximately 60% of Green Flash total business, the team is taking some big steps to increase its off-premise business with the national release of select beers in 6-pack format. In the 1st quarter, Green Flash introduced several products in 6-packs as an exclusive to their “local markets,” California and Virginia. The response from retailers and consumers has been overwhelmingly positive. In response to widespread demand, Green Flash has expanded their 6-pack availability to reach national distribution. The July 2015 release of West Coast Double IPA, Soul Style IPA and the Green Flash Hop Odyssey series beers in 6-packs is expected to increase their national off-premise business by an estimated 20% in 2015.
As Green Flash expands packaged beer offerings, the team is working closely with Alpine Beer Co (acquired in November 2014) to simultaneously increase the availability of select Alpine draft and packaged brews.
To support the increased distribution, Green Flash will up production of Alpine offerings on draft and begin bottling select 22oz Alpine beers in Q4. Consumers can also look forward to a one-time only 6-pack release of Alpine cult favorite, Pure Hoppiness, which will hit store shelves in November for a limited time, nationally. The Green Flash sales force will continue to oversee the national roll out of Alpine, focusing on key markets that have proven successful with sell-through on Green Flash products.
“With Alpine, we may have found the needle in a haystack,” says Mike Hinkley. “If another amazing combination of brand, beer and people comes along, we would not hesitate to consider the possibilities of teaming up with another small brewery. We have worked hard to build a truly great organization and have a lot to offer a small brewery with a strong brand.”
With larger production of both Green Flash and Alpine beer from their San Diego facility, Green Flash will hit the brewery’s 100K BBL capacity in the fourth quarter of 2015. Efforts to quickly build their east coast operation in Virginia Beach are in full swing. While consumer demand drives the fairly immediate need for increased production, Green Flash is focusing first on the customer experience as they expand east. In an effort to offer Virginia Beach and visiting consumers the opportunity to get to know the Green Flash brand, beers and culture the brewery plans to complete construction of the Virginia brewery’s tasting room as a first-priority. The Tasting Room will open first – with hopes to open doors to the public venue as early as May 2016. Tasting Room offerings on the east coast will mirror those of the award-winning space in San Diego, including a large selection of Green Flash draft beers on rotation. Visitors will be able to take brewery “hardhat” tours to view the final phases of construction, while they learn the technical aspects of the brewing process as well as the history of Green Flash. Construction of the 100K BBL east coast brewery will likely be complete in Summer 2016 with beer production slated to begin at about 50K BBLS.
The acceleration of the Green Flash brand’s multi-tiered growth and expansion strategy has prompted the need to bring on an experienced senior level leader to ensure that execution of the plans are successful. Co-Founders, Mike and Lisa Hinkley have appointed longtime friend, seasoned corporate leader and ardent Green Flash supporter, Chris Ross to the post of Green Flash COO beginning September 1st 2015.
“I’ve spent my entire professional career in high-tech electronics. To me, the craft beer industry is fresh, exciting and wonderfully intriguing” says Ross about his new role. “I’m anxious to apply learnings from my operational experiences in electronics to craft beer. Some will apply, some won’t and there’s always more to learn. Whatever the case, my only motivation to move into the craft beer world is to simply help Green Flash, and have a ton of fun along the way!”
While new to craft beer, Ross is a seasoned executive with over 25 years of experience leading global operations in the telecommunications, information technology and consumer electronics industries. Ross has held VP, CTO and COO roles with companies including Intrinsyc Technologies Corporation, Novatel Wireless Inc., Ericsson Wireless Communications and QUALCOMM.
“Chris will be joining as COO at a crucial time for Green Flash,” explains Hinkley. “We are currently running the operations for two brands with five locations in San Diego (includes Green Flash manufacturing facilities, corporate office space and Alpine locations), and are working fast to complete construction of the east coast brewery. I will continue to be completely hands-on in the day to day business, focusing on big-picture business strategy, while Chris will support, lead and strengthen the backbone of our operation and expansion process, with Virginia Beach as his first focus. I am confident that Chris will ensure we are successful in our next chapter as well as be a mentor to our existing team.”
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