After almost a year, one of our Beautiful and Benevolent Billionaires™️ finally emerged from the ether to deus ex machina Anchor Brewing Co. out of its Sapporo-induced defunction. Per the San Francisco Chronicle this morning (which appears to have agreed to an embargoed exclusive, lol), Hamdi Ulukaya, the chief executive and founder of Chobani, has acquired the iconic, idled San Francisco steam beer brewery and all its intellectual property. He doesn’t have any brewing experience, but he does have a reported $2.4 billion, and that’s how that works. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, which is how that works.
I wrote a few initial thoughts down for VinePair, but obviously, there’s a lot to talk about here. So let’s do that! Comments are live now and open to free and paid readers alike:
What will become of Anchor Union? The Chronicle reported that Ulukaya “didn’t know whether the union that formed there shortly before the brewery closed would be part of the new operations,” which is a darn friendly way to frame a billionaire’s non-answer about labor relations, and maybe also a dig at the union itself, which formed in 2019, closer to the start of Sapporo USA’s disastrous tenure in 2017 than its end in 2023. “Shortly.” Lol, lmao.
How fast can the brewery get back up and running? Patrick Machel, a former worker and shop steward for Anchor Union, told me this morning that if Ulukaya is willing/able to hire back “a majority” of Anchor’s former employees, the place could be back in operation “within a month,” with Steam Beer et al. soon to follow.
Who else was in the running, and when did Mr. Yogurt knock them out? I know of at least one other investor group that was close to making a deal for the whole enchilada as of mid-March of this year. By late that month, though, my source told me that deal “look[ed] dead.” Was that when Ulukaya made his interest known? Hmm.
That catastrophic redesign is done for, right? Now that Ulukaya owns all of Anchor’s intellectual property, the heinous rebrand Sapporo USA rolled out in 2021—which didn’t kill the agéd brewery, but sure didn’t help—has gotta get rolled back, right? Supposedly the new owner is down to restore Anchor’s legacy label to its former glory; let’s hope he sticks to that plan, and doesn’t try to do any subtle zhuzhing. RETVRN.
What are your questions, man? Drop ‘em in the comments below, along with your steamiest takes about this deal—or literally anything else. It’s Friday thread time!
Gosh I hope they position Anchor Steam as a Budweiser competitor. America's original beer at a domestic price point? Domination incoming. And if they bring back the old packaging at the same time? Oh, that could be so fun to watch.
Oh interesting! I hadn't really thought of that move for Anchor, just because it's such a premium brand, and the facility is really small to compete on price.
Bringing back the old label/package/etc. is an absolute must, though. It sounds like Ulukaya is down to do so, but like I wrote, I worry he may wind up still trying to get cute with it, which would be a mistake I think. But he's saying a lot of the right things for now, so I guess we gotta let Mr. Yogurt cook.
If the union gets pushed out of the deal, will they start their own brewery with the wefunder and gofundme money they raised? Aweigh could be a cool name.
Also forget hard milk, gimme some hard greek yogurt.
I believe they're in the process of refunding the WeFunder money, if they haven't already. Those funds aren't like, "free money" for them lol—or at least they shouldn't be. I know some of them have stayed in the brewing industry, but it's hard to know how many, and/or how many are still even in the Bay Area. That's why I wrote it depends on whether Ulukaya is "willing/able" to rehire the old staff... it's not like they were able to just hang around for this day to come, they had to get jobs and stuff.
I very much have an eye on what he does with geography. He has experience now with two brands, Chobani and La Colombe, with very different market share in their respective categories. Is Anchor still in a place to be a nationally, Costco-available Chobani? Or does it need a retail strategy that's a little more niche and focused, a la La Colombe?
Right—he's got these successful above-premium CPG brands in his portfolio that actually have very little to do with each other, and even less to do with craft beer. It doesn't even sound like he's particularly interested in beer, personally, which is always a bit concerning. Anyway, I look forward to a bunch of licensed Anchor Brewing Airport Lounges à la Sam Adams in a few years.
Mr. Yogurt had a reputation for not really following all of the FDA guidelines for recalls. Trying to go into stores and buy back some of the products for example. I think who he places in charge of Anchor will tell us the direction - is this a vanity project or something more.
Well this is interesting news! Off to the convenience store I shall go to hunt for Anchor and new treats. I'm sure I mentioned this before, but when I was newly 21 I visited SF with my parents and had a beer at the Anchor brewpub. It was lovely. Also, when I made the NA "Calm Harvest" cocktail you recommended the other day, I poured it in my fancy gold-plated Anchor Christmas Ale pint glass. Hard yogurt also sounds like an interesting concept!
Haha I can't believe you actually made Calm Harvest. That rocks.
Anchor's Public Taps (as I think they're called) are supposed to be amazing. I hope I get to drink there someday. Here's hoping they bring back Christmas ale ASAP, eh?
Do we get steam yogurt now?
It's only a matter of time. Trust the process.
Gosh I hope they position Anchor Steam as a Budweiser competitor. America's original beer at a domestic price point? Domination incoming. And if they bring back the old packaging at the same time? Oh, that could be so fun to watch.
Oh interesting! I hadn't really thought of that move for Anchor, just because it's such a premium brand, and the facility is really small to compete on price.
Bringing back the old label/package/etc. is an absolute must, though. It sounds like Ulukaya is down to do so, but like I wrote, I worry he may wind up still trying to get cute with it, which would be a mistake I think. But he's saying a lot of the right things for now, so I guess we gotta let Mr. Yogurt cook.
If the union gets pushed out of the deal, will they start their own brewery with the wefunder and gofundme money they raised? Aweigh could be a cool name.
Also forget hard milk, gimme some hard greek yogurt.
I believe they're in the process of refunding the WeFunder money, if they haven't already. Those funds aren't like, "free money" for them lol—or at least they shouldn't be. I know some of them have stayed in the brewing industry, but it's hard to know how many, and/or how many are still even in the Bay Area. That's why I wrote it depends on whether Ulukaya is "willing/able" to rehire the old staff... it's not like they were able to just hang around for this day to come, they had to get jobs and stuff.
Hard Greek yogurt... now you're talking...
If he hires back enough of the old staff he may be required by law to recognize the union.
I very much have an eye on what he does with geography. He has experience now with two brands, Chobani and La Colombe, with very different market share in their respective categories. Is Anchor still in a place to be a nationally, Costco-available Chobani? Or does it need a retail strategy that's a little more niche and focused, a la La Colombe?
Right—he's got these successful above-premium CPG brands in his portfolio that actually have very little to do with each other, and even less to do with craft beer. It doesn't even sound like he's particularly interested in beer, personally, which is always a bit concerning. Anyway, I look forward to a bunch of licensed Anchor Brewing Airport Lounges à la Sam Adams in a few years.
Mr. Yogurt had a reputation for not really following all of the FDA guidelines for recalls. Trying to go into stores and buy back some of the products for example. I think who he places in charge of Anchor will tell us the direction - is this a vanity project or something more.
Is that right? Drop the link(s), my man!
Definitely potential for this to be a vanity project that fizzles out on the quick, to everyone's detriment. Cautious counterpoint from Jeff Alworth at Beervana, Mr. Yogurt does seem to have a yen for this kind of turnaround... https://www.beervanablog.com/beervana/2024/5/31/chobani-founder-hamdi-ulukaya-has-purchased-anchor-brewing
I won't hold my breath.
Well this is interesting news! Off to the convenience store I shall go to hunt for Anchor and new treats. I'm sure I mentioned this before, but when I was newly 21 I visited SF with my parents and had a beer at the Anchor brewpub. It was lovely. Also, when I made the NA "Calm Harvest" cocktail you recommended the other day, I poured it in my fancy gold-plated Anchor Christmas Ale pint glass. Hard yogurt also sounds like an interesting concept!
Haha I can't believe you actually made Calm Harvest. That rocks.
Anchor's Public Taps (as I think they're called) are supposed to be amazing. I hope I get to drink there someday. Here's hoping they bring back Christmas ale ASAP, eh?