• 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

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

Meet Tapptek: The startup integrating IoT insight right to the beer tap

July 28, 2020Chris Crowell

Tapptek

IoT is working its way into every aspect of the brewing industry except the actual liquid itself, but tech startup Tapptek is getting pretty damn close. Tapptek’s patented technology transforms existing beer taps into devices that provide unique, real-time data on consumer purchasing behavior in an easy to understand format.

For decades brewers, retailers and distributors have been largely disconnected from consumer purchase behavior with billions of daily transactions not being captured and utilized. Tapptek solves that problem by turning dumb taps (yea, I said it, taps) into devices that distribute data with every pour.

Tapptek Founder & CEO Jamie Robinson came up with the idea while enjoying a beer at a pub in suburban Philadelphia.

“I had an epiphany as I stared at a sea of competing beer taps which all looked different but functioned the same,” he said.

The thinking goes: the more brewers, distributors and retailers can know about consumer purchasing behaviors, the better decision-making can be in terms of product offering, branding, etc. All of which is more important than ever right now. Metrics of note include a tap handle’s location in the lineup, when a beer is pouring and for how long, the volume dispensed and when a tap handle has gone on or off.

“Our technology can inform a brand when a consumer approaches within 30 feet of one of their tap handles,” explained Tapptek’s chief product officer James Keane, “prior to the point of purchase, and with the insights on how that brand performs at that particular account, in that particular part of the account, on that hour of the day, that day of the week, and that month of the year. With these insights we will be able to provide a consumer activation platform that lots of brands dream of, but to-date nobody has ever successfully deployed.

Tapptek

This smart tap needed to be small, unobtrusive, scalable and cost effective to manufacture and distribute. They turned to Avnet to help develop the hardware to match its software.

“Avnet’s commitment to making sure the design process continued seamlessly, helping us turn challenges into opportunities,” Keane noted. “Draft beverage analytics at scale will be increasingly important to the beverage industry as we provide unique insights and measurements of consumer trends in the bar and restaurant industries, reflecting the impact of the pandemic and its aftermath.”

Robinson originally launched Tapptek in 2015 in a partnership with MillerCoors, which would sell the devices directly to retailers. This model didn’t quite work for a variety of reasons. Now, instead of trying to sell a distributor the technology through a beverage brand, Tapptek is providing the device for free to distributors but charging a monthly subscription to access the tap handle’s collected data. The company says Tapptek’s monthly price balances out to about 1% of the cost of an average keg.

Tapptek will begin product testing by mid-August and should be debuting the technology in a number of Philadelphia bars.

CBE branding expo Desination Marketing Panel
Professional craft beer branding: 10 best tips, advice from 2017
craft beer tap handles
Tap handles 101: Consider the timeline, design trends
Distribution update: NYC’s Alewife Brewing now sells in eastern Pennsylvania + news from Maui, Urban South and more
Rebranding New Zealand’s Good George Brewing

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. Tapptek’s Insight from the Beer Tap – Brewers Journal Canada says:
    July 29, 2020 at 10:02 am

    […] For the complete story, click here.  […]

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Latest News

  • State of California Craft Beer: Covid recovery challenged by competition, consolidation
  • MicroStar Logistics launches Network Services Division to manage reusable plastic pallets for the beer Industry
  • Analyst speculates on Heineken acquiring Boston Beer, stock jumps
  • United States Bartenders’ Guild now has access to WOTVS Hospitality Assistance Program

Sign up for our newsletter

unsubscribe from list

Most Popular Today

Recent Features

  • CCBA California Craft Beer SummitState of California Craft Beer: Covid recovery challenged by competition, consolidation
    March 23, 2023
  • Koga-brothers-karben4Karben4 Brewing to relaunch Ale Asylum brand
    March 20, 2023
  • 4 steps to understanding the filtration process in craft beer
    March 20, 2023
  • newbelgium_2023_wildnectar-shopping-basket_family_IMG_2Beyond beer: Examples of craft breweries exploring canned cocktails
    March 16, 2023
  • brooklyn 35 featureBrooklyn Lager turns 35 and more beers to know this week
    March 14, 2023
  • Backwoods Brewing to open a 19-acre resort called Party Acres in the Columbia River gorge this May
    March 13, 2023

Footer

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

© 2023 · CBB Media LLC