E-Malt.com News article: USA & Canada: Founders Brewing Co. to expand distribution to Canada and several southern US states

Founders Brewing Co. is going international this year with distribution of the company’s Centennial IPA to Canada, mlive.com reported on February, 24.

The brewery announced that bottles of the year-round offering would become available in the Canadian province of Ontario yet this month, distributed through the Bruce Ashley Group, an Ontario beer importer.

Centennial IPA is the only beer shipping to Canada, but the brewery hopes to add more brands and more provinces to Canadian distribution in 2014.

“There is a growing craft beer scene in Ontario that we’re excited to be a part of,” brewery president Mike Stevens said.

“Some great beer enthusiasts from our neighbor to the north have reached out to us over the past few years, and we’re looking forward to supporting that enthusiasm and to supporting recognition of the American craft beer scene internationally.”

The Canada move comes ahead of expected new distribution by Founders into several southern U.S. states this year, most notably Texas, Maryland and Florida, where Founders is currently in contract negotiations with distributors.

The brewery said that Founders beer could be available in those three states by April. Texas would be the farthest westward the company distributes in the U.S.

Other states previously marked for 2013 expansion include Delaware, Tennessee and West Virginia.

The brewery is in the midst of a $26 mln expansion project at its Grand Rapids taproom and production facility. When it's complete, the new space should yield the brewery an additional 165,000-some barrels of annual production capacity, which would boost Founders’ total annual beer output to about 340,000 barrels per year.


27 February, 2013