It took me a weekend to process the news about Famille Rue and their partnership with Castanea Partners, a private equity firm from Massachusetts.
Part of me wasn’t surprised seeing as how they had grown in locations and equipment and big giant foeders. The addition of canned IPA’s via their Offshoot brand also seemed like a financing move of sorts so a bigger cash infusion just didn’t seem like from out of left field.
The press release was the typical bland verbiage that comes with these deals. I do long for more upfront press releases about any sale that does not include phrasing like “consistent with our ideals.” Or “understanding our vision”. How about, we needed money to distribute in more states or we needed money for this thing or that thing.
Past that, I have two fundamental questions. Castanea does have artisanal experience with a variety of higher end consumer brands such as Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream, Urban Decay cosmetics, Essentia Water, and drybar. How will that translate to beer?
The part that I kept getting stuck on though, was how much the Rue’s own and how much the new partner owns. Who will really be able to make final decisions?
Overall, I wonder how vibrant the high price model for craft beer will be. With more and more breweries around and with the High End driving down prices, will people continue to spend? I know that from my perch in Glendale, most Bruery bottles are past my day-to-day price range and even if I lived across the street from their tap rooms, I probably still would not buy bottles and get draft instead.
This will be an economic study in years to come that could harbor many uncomfortable facts about the craft beer marketplace.
