Marking its entrance into the burgeoning market of craft beers, Heineken has purchased a 50-per-cent stake in Lagunitas, the brewer behind one of the best-selling brands of craft beer in the United States, TheDrinksBusiness.com reports.
This popular product is Lagunitas IPA, the signature drink for which the company is best known. A million hectolitres of it will have been sold by the end of 2015, according to Lagunitas's predictions.
Tony Magee, founder and executive officer of Lagunitas, said, "This venture will create a way for Lagunitas to let Heineken participate in the growing craft-beer category across its global distribution network, in places from Tierra Del Fuego and Mongolia to the far-flung Isle of Langerhans.
"Lagunitas will share in the best-quality processes in the world and enjoy access to opportunities that took lifetimes to build. This alliance with the world's most international brewer represents a profound victory for US craft. It will open doors that had previously been shut and bring the US craft-beer vibe to communities all over the world."
Jean-François van Boxmeer, CEO of Heineken, commented, "We are very excited to partner with Lagunitas. We recognise and respect the tremendous success of Tony and his team in building one of the great US craft-beer brands. We look forward to that same team partnering with us to expand Lagunitas globally, so it can reach parts of the world that other craft-beer brands have not."
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
