CHICAGO, IL Sept. 27, 2016 -- The National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) recognized Allagash Brewing Company of Portland, Maine, as the second annual NBWA Brewer Partner of the Year. The award was presented at NBWA's 79th Annual Convention taking place this week in Chicago, Illinois.
KettleHouse Brewing Co. of Missoula, Montana, was recognized with the Brewer Partner Sales Execution Award, and Port City Brewing Company in Alexandria, Virginia, was presented the Brewer Partner Marketing Innovation Award.
The awards recognize the brewers who do the best job in the marketplace producing great beer; building strong partnerships; providing valuable education; and offering support to their distributor customers in order to bring their beers to market.
"Allagash, KettleHouse and Port City are three of the more than 4,000 breweries that are generating such excitement for beer around this country and providing the American consumer with unprecedented choice and quality," said NBWA President & CEOCraig Purser. "The U.S. is enjoying a Golden Age for beer thanks to a robust and competitive system of independent distribution, which provides access to market and a competitive playing field for brewers of all sizes and generates excitement for consumers."
"America's beer distributors look forward to celebrating the success of each of these brands and recognizing many more innovative and collaborative brewers in the future," Purser added.
Allagash Brewing Company has been brewing Belgian-inspired beers since 1995 and produced 83,000 barrels of beer in 2015. For new and existing products, they provide their distributors with posters, videos, artwork and sales sheets about the brand.Allagash also has created a custom profit calculator app that allows distributors to calculate how much money each product can make at retail compared to competing brands. This information can then be shared with retail buyers.
Allagash partners with their distributors to host "Saison Day" each March where they focus on educating consumers about the Saison style of beer. Allagash also recognizes each distributor partner who sells more than 100,000 case equivalents per year by having management fly in to the market and hand deliver a custom-made sign recognizing the accomplishment.
Joey Waraskevich of Pine State Beverage said, "To many around the country, it is no mystery that Allagash makes great beer and is on the forefront of innovation. What may not be so obvious to some is the support and quality of people they provide to their wholesaler partners."
"Founder Rob Tod has created a culture of not only hardworking employees but, as important, quality people of great character and flawless follow through," Waraskevich continued. "If visiting the brewery as a wholesaler, it is common for a brewer or member of the operations team to personally thank you for selling their beer. Furthermore, it will take you five minutes of being in the brewery to discover that everyone is genuinely proud of where they work."
"The sales team works hand in hand with our team in the marketplace, giving us excellent support at the account level, and every member has integrity and knowledge of the beer industry," Waraskevich added.
The National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) represents the interests of America's more than 3,000 licensed, independent beer distributor operations in every state, congressional district and media market across the country. To learn more aboutAmerica's beer distributors, visit www.nbwa.org. For additional updates from NBWA, subscribe to The Daily Brew newsletter, follow @NBWABeer on Twitter, watch NBWA videos on YouTube and visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/NBWABeer.
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