Source: Tampa Tribune, 07/01/2000
By Chris Frates, Tampa Tribune, Fla. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Jul. 1--When Dick Yuengling bought the closed Stroh 's brewery in north Tampa
last April, his short-term plan was simple -- quench the thirst of Yuengling
loyalists back home around Philadelphia. But he wouldn't have bought a brewery
1,000 miles away just to ship all the product north. He had bigger things in
mind -- infiltrating Florida and the Southeast.
It's proven tough. Until
recently, Yuengling didn't even have equipment to make beer in Florida's
favorite size, the 12-pack. "The Tampa market, we've been a little
disappointed in," Yuengling said.
But now, a year after it came to Tampa,
Yuengling says its efforts to get its name known are starting to make a
difference. "We believe you have one shot in the beer business to build
your brand and to build it right," said Kevin Fitzpatrick, regional sales
manager. "If we have to build slowly and meticulously, we will."
Yuengling was an unknown in Tampa Bay to all but some Northeast transplants when
it decided to buy the closed brewery last April. Demand in Yuengling's home
markets of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware was so high its Pottsville,
Pa., brewery -- the oldest in America -- couldn't keep pace. In a slow- or
no-growth industry, Yuengling was increasing production 20 percent or more every
year, so it needed more capacity.
The plant started production last July with 20 workers. Yuengling has made about $4 million in improvements, adding draft and bottling machines and a 12-pack packager. It's doubled its work force, employing mostly former Stroh's workers. It started brewing in July and the first product reached stores in September. So far, the Tampa brewery has been shipping 99 percent of its beer north. In its first six months of operation it brewed 65,000 barrels.
Company officials expect to brew at least 250,000 barrels this year, and between 350,000 and 500,000 barrels in 2001. A barrel holds 31 gallons. All that beer won't have to keep going north much longer. In addition to buying the Tampa facility, Yuengling has a Pottsville brewery slated for completion in spring 2001. So the idea is to establish the brand so it can be Tampa's regional beer. Because it doesn't have the resources of big brewers such as Anheuser-Busch, Miller and Coors, Yuengling has a different strategy the low cost soft sell. Fitzpatrick describes it as "guerrilla marketing. It's going in and selling your brand to people who will talk to you about our product." The Philadelphia native invites businesses and community groups to use the brewery's meeting rooms. Afterward, he gives them the VIP tour and samples. "It's a way for us to build our brewery grass-roots wise," said Fitzpatrick, who has worked every job at the brewery and calls every employee he passes by name. Yuengling also is counting on wholesalers to push the product.
Now Yuengling has one Florida distributor, representing the Bay
area. But it says it could have several more signed by the end of the month.
Fitzpatrick said the company will need eight to 12 wholesalers to cover the
state. "What we're seeing in Florida is that you're as good as your
wholesaler," Fitzpatrick said. Stan Hieronymus, editor of a Web site
devoted to the beer industry, said it is sometimes hard to find distributors who
will make extra effort to push new products into the marketplace. "As you
spread yourself wider, it gets harder because you can't count on distributors to
sell your product," he said. But Fitzpatrick and his Tampa wholesaler,
Sutton Distributing, say they have managed to land Yuengling in all the major
area supermarkets and liquor chains.
The beer also has found its way into
several bars, including the Green Iguana Bar and Grill, Whiskey Joe's and Newk's
Lighthouse Cafe, as well as the Ice Palace and Raymond James Stadium, he said.
General managers at Newk's and Whiskey Joe's said the beer sells extremely well.
It represents 15 percent of Whiskey Joe's beer sales and is Newk's No. 1 selling
traditional lager, outselling Budweiser and Foster's. Vinnie Michalski, Newk's
general managing partner, said it helps when you can tell folks of Yuengling's
Pennsylvania history, that it owns the oldest brewery in America, and has just
recently opened a Tampa facility. "It's got a story behind it,"
Michalski said. "Any time you can romance something it sells better. A Bud
Light's a Bud Light. ... What are you going to tell people?" Rae Osborne,
sales director for Sutton, said Yuengling's sales have grown every month since
distribution began in September. Sutton distributes to Hillsborough, Pinellas
and Pasco counties. "Once they release the brand, which they really
haven't, and they're confident they have the production to meet demand, they'll
take off," Osborne said. "I know most suppliers I talk to can't wait
to get the brand." But word-of-mouth will take you only so far, certainly
not up and down the Eastern Seaboard. After establishing a stronger Bay area
base, it plans a similar approach to what it's done in the Northeast, with
billboards and limited radio advertising.Yuengling wants to have the brewery
supplying the entire Southeast. It's capable of producing 1.6 million barrels a
year, about six times what it's producing now. Hieronymus, the editor, said the
real question is if Yuengling, the country's eighth largest brewery, can
establish itself in a market dominated by national brands. "Nobody has
really come in and grabbed the market. The question is if they can establish
themselves as a beer made in Tampa," Hieronymus said. That's exactly what
Fitzpatrick is trying to do. "We're looking," he said, "to become
Tampa's hometown beer."
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