• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • About Craft Brewing Business

Craft Brewing Business

Professional Insight, Unfiltered

  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • COVID-19

Germany’s Blefa has acquired a major stake in American Keg

January 16, 2020Keith Gribbins

American Keg’s Pottstown, Pa., operations.

American Keg Co. touts that it’s the only stainless-steel beer keg manufacturer in the United States of America, building 1/2- and 1/6-bbl kegs with domestically sourced 304 stainless steel. Now, global keg provider Blefa, which is headquartered in Kreuztal, Germany, with American operations in La Vergne, Tenn., and Vancouver, Wash., has acquired “a major stake” in American Keg LLC, according to the press release.

“I’m very pleased that we could work with Blefa on this investment of equity and know-how,” said Scott Bentley, owner of American Keg. “While I’m proud of establishing American Keg as the only manufacturer of kegs in the U.S., there is a lot we can learn from Blefa to make our production more efficient. I’m excited to see what we can achieve together.”

In should be noted that American Keg made headlines in 2018 and beyond after filing antidumping complaints against Chinese, Mexican and German keg makers, saying it was struggling and laying off employees because of unfair trade practices. In November of 2019, The United States International Trade Commission penalized both Chinese and German stainless-steel keg makers with unfair-trade tariffs, saying that those makers dumped below-cost kegs into the American marketplace. Was there any trepidation about investments coming from a German keg maker?

“I wouldn’t say there is any trepidation on our part,” said Brian Luzzi, director of sales and marketing at American Keg. “We had several options on the table to expand the business, and we felt that the Blefa option would quickly bring the most to our company. Blefa Keg’s seasoned industry expertise and well developed relationships with large breweries and logistics companies will pair well with American Keg’s grit and dedication to the small- and medium-sized craft brewer, creating a keg producer that should dominate the domestic industry for years to come.”

American Keg LLC is based in Pottstown, Pa., and according to the press release, all of the investment from Blefa will stay in Pottstown and be invested over the next two years. A lot of public officials were involved, led by Peggy Lee-Clark, executive director of Pottstown Area Industrial Development.

From the press release:

“We are excited that Blefa picked Pottstown and American Keg. We look forward to continuing to support the growth of this innovative company,” said Lee-Clark, who acknowledged help from Senator Bob Mensch — PA State Senator 24th District, Commissioner Ken Lawrence — Montgomery County Commissioners, Dave Zellers — Commerce Director-Montgomery County, and Justin Keller — Borough Manager of Pottstown.

Distribution updates: Massachusetts brewers celebrate franchise reform, Yuengling goes to Texas with Molson Coors and more from Bell’s, Stone and beyond
Image-credit-Parkway-Brewing-001
Four packaging design trends craft brewers need to know about in 2021
ABP-meeting
How to run a successful Annual Brand Planning meeting with your distributor
Telluride 2-002
Off-premise and off-the-wall: Five creative craft beer packaging concepts

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Latest News

  • Watch: This awareness video on human trafficking from beer wholesaler Markstein Sales will move you to action
  • Distribution updates: Massachusetts brewers celebrate franchise reform, Yuengling goes to Texas with Molson Coors and more from Bell’s, Stone and beyond
  • San Francisco’s Fort Point Beer moves from self-distribution to partner with Matagrano Inc.
  • Craft Brewers Conference rescheduled for Sept., moves from San Diego to Denver, may go online as a backup

Sign up for our newsletter

unsubscribe from list

Most Popular Today

Recent Features

  • Watch: This awareness video on human trafficking from beer wholesaler Markstein Sales will move you to action
    January 14, 2021
  • Distribution updates: Massachusetts brewers celebrate franchise reform, Yuengling goes to Texas with Molson Coors and more from Bell’s, Stone and beyond
    January 14, 2021
  • COVID19 coronavirus mask moneyWhy you need to maximize engagement during a pandemic
    January 13, 2021
  • How the Employee Retention Credit can help breweries that paid employees during the pandemic
    January 12, 2021
  • The role of market research in go-to-market planning for craft breweries
    January 12, 2021
  • Tennessee beer tax rolls through legislatureSummary of new wrinkles to the Craft Beverage Modernization tax provisions via the TTB
    January 11, 2021

Footer

  • Email Newsletter Sign Up
  • About Craft Brewing Business
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise on Craft Brewing Business
  • Media Kit Download
  • Privacy and Terms

© 2021 · CBB Media LLC

Continue ...

sponsored by