Today we made one of the most significant decisions in our retail careers in deciding to stop selling Beavertown, a brewery that contributes an enormous share of our revenue, after hearing the news of its sale to Heineken. We will sell through the stock we already have but going forward we will no longer retail Beavertown. We are, frankly, absolutely gutted about this but we feel strongly that we need to be true to our principles and our support of independent beer. Here's our letter to Beavertown in full.
It's no exaggeration to say we are hugely disappointed by this morning's news. I imagine many of you will be feeling the same way.
Hop Burns & Black is built on the ethos of supporting the independent beer scene - it's at the very core of our reason for being.
We appreciate breweries are businesses like any other and often need help to grow and realise their ambitions, but we hoped Beavertown were cut from a different jib to those who just follow the money. Beavertown has been hugely instrumental in developing the UK craft beer scene and to sell to Heineken (no matter what the share) feels, quite frankly, like a slap in the face.
Heineken - like AB InBev - does not have the health of the UK independent beer scene at heart. Dressing up this move as good for the consumer is just spin - in reality this is simply helping Big Beer chip away at the UK independent beer scene. As independent retailers whose business is also at risk from Big Beer's targeting of the industry, we cannot support this.
We have had a long and close relationship with Beavertown - your beers make up more than 8% of our annual beer turnover (second only to Cloudwater), so this is not a decision we have taken lightly. However, as with Brixton after it sold to Heineken, we are prepared to say goodbye. We're sad that we've had to take this decision but nothing is more important to us than our principles.
We will sell through the Beavertown beers we currently have in stock but will not be placing any more orders.
We want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your fantastic support over the years - Beavertown people are good people and we will very much miss working with you.
Jen & Glenn @ HB&B
UPDATE: We have also sent a similar email to the Fourpure team following the announcement of their 100% sale to Lion/Kirin. While this news was not at all unexpected, it's still a sad day as we have worked closely with the Fourpure team over the years, sharing many great nights, hangovers and even a collab brew. Our stance remains the same, however - we are here for independent beer.