• 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

Chef Rick Bayless brews up a new craft beer for Crown Imports

March 6, 2013Jason Morgan

Crown Imports Rick Bayless craft beer
Through the lens of the InBev purchase of Grupo Modelo, the partnership by Crown Imports is a strategic move to offset any fallout from Grupo Modelo’s plan to sell its 50 percent stake in the company to Constellation Brands, Crown’s other owner.

You might know Rick Bayless from his fame as an American chef who specializes in Mexican cuisine. But get ready to pair one of his spicy dishes with his latest culinary endeavor — craft beer. Advertising Age reported that Bayless will team with Crown Imports, best known for distributing Corona in the United States, to produce his own brand of craft beer that will debut next year.

The beer will appear in stores alongside Bayless Frontera-brand salsas, sauces and chips. From Ad Age:

The craft beer is in its early stages of development. It will be owned by Crown, which initially plans to distribute it regionally, although the footprint could grow. The brand is still nameless and the style has not been determined. But it seems all-but-certain that Mr. Bayless will give it a south-of-the-border feel.

“We are going to use Rick and all his expertise with Latin flavors and Mexican flavors and spice. He’s very into beer,” Crown Chief Marketing Officer Jim Sabia told Ad Age. “We will have our own brewers, but he is going to be actively involved in the recipe and style. He’s going to be our master brewer.”

Through the lens of the Anheuser-Busch InBev purchase of Grupo Modelo, the partnership by Crown Imports is a strategic move to offset any fallout from Grupo Modelo’s plan to sell its 50 percent stake in the company to Constellation Brands, Crown’s other owner. Again, Ad Age explains:

In response to anti-trust concerns, the deal was recently revised to give Constellation further independence from A-B InBev, including ownership of a Mexican brewery. Constellation also has “the freedom to develop brand extensions and innovations for the U.S. market,” Constellation CEO Robert Sands said on a recent call with analysts. Constellation, which markets wine, beer and spirits, will become “the third largest total-beverage alcohol company in the U.S.,” he noted, assuming the final deal gets approval from regulators.

For more details, head over to Advertising Age for the full story.

Anheuser_Busch_InBev
Anheuser-Busch InBev hopes to fully own Grupo Modelo by divesting the Mexican brand’s U.S. business (win?)
Anheuser_Busch_InBev
AB InBev to buy SABMiller for $104 billion (a deal that largely does not concern the U.S. market)
corona beer bottle on a beach
Will AB InBev and Heineken monopolize the Mexican beer market?
AB-InBev opposes craft brewery name
AB InBev completes purchase of Grupo Modelo

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. DenverBeerGuy says

    March 6, 2013 at 4:05 pm

    RT @CraftBrewingBiz: Chef @Rick_Bayless brews up a new craft beer for Crown Imports. … http://t.co/r0ZXKdAsYj

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Latest News

  • New Realm Brewing to open a distillery in Savannah this spring
  • Gilman Brewing Opens Third Bay Area Taproom + Expansions in West Berkeley and Daly City for better pandemic protocols
  • The beer flow: tallboys are trending, top IPA SKUs and on-premise taps continue to pour more
  • Team Left Hand hits $5 million milestone in MS fundraising effort

Sign up for our newsletter

unsubscribe from list

Most Popular Today

Recent Features

  • beer flow pour glass multiple pictures data-001The beer flow: tallboys are trending, top IPA SKUs and on-premise taps continue to pour more
    March 3, 2021
  • Innokeg CombiKegKHS keg fillers updated to be more sustainable, efficient
    March 3, 2021
  • Summit IPA variety packIPA sales growth continues thanks to subcategories, according to 2021 IPA Forecast
    March 2, 2021
  • Free samples! These frozen whole cone hops from Michigan’s Blue Lake Hops are perfect for year-round harvest hop brews
    March 1, 2021
  • Whoa, Boulder Beer’s rebrand is badass (enjoy this photo post)
    March 1, 2021
  • libdib online beer distributorWhy (and how) Cabarrus Brewing will stick with online sales post-lockdown
    February 25, 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