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On Friday, Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya introduced that he’s bought San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing Co., which was closed by Sapporo USA in July 2023 after 127 years of enterprise.
The billionaire advised the Chronicle he found Anchor Brewing in August 2023 whereas studying an article about its closure. After trying additional into the historic brewery, Ulukaya discovered of its significance to San Francisco and located similarities between the brewery’s journey and Chobani’s. (Established in upstate New York in 2005, the Greek yogurt firm bought its begin in a manufacturing unit that was additionally getting ready to closure.)
“I spotted how Anchor is actually aligned with town’s historical past,” he advised the newspaper in an interview on Thursday night time. “I assumed, ‘Wow, what if? What if we will deliver it again?’ And that excited me as a result of I’ve been a part of bringing again a manufacturing unit again in upstate New York and constructing a model.”
Whereas the worth of the deal was not disclosed, the acquisition contains all the brewery’s property together with all its recipes, the Potrero Hill brewing facility, and the brewing gear in all warehouses, which is allegedly nonetheless in good condition. Ulukaya’s plans for the brewery embody modernizing Potrero Hill to get the long-lasting beer flowing as soon as extra all through the Bay Space as quickly as attainable. Ulukaya disclosed that every one he’s ready for now’s “permission from town and alignment with the group and the individuals who labored there a very long time.”
Town seems to be on board with the brand new possession, with mayor Landon Breed calling the acquisition not simply an funding within the brewery, however in San Francisco itself.
“It’s a recognition of what makes our metropolis actually particular — our historical past, our establishments, and our individuals. Anchor Brewing has all the time been a beloved a part of San Francisco and because of Hamdi Ulukaya, will probably be part of San Francisco for years to come back.” she advised the Chronicle. “I’m grateful for his dedication to being part of the way forward for our metropolis and for protecting the custom of Anchor Steam beer being brewed proper right here the place it belongs.”
Ulukaya shared that he has met with 4 beforehand long-term Anchor workers and communicated his need to rehire as many former workers as attainable, although he stays not sure if the beforehand fashioned union will probably be acknowledged. As soon as the brewery is made operational, Ulukaya plans to give attention to distributing Anchor brews all through the Bay Space first earlier than, hopefully, opening plans to nationwide markets.
It stays unclear precisely which particular Anchor beers will return, although Anchor Steam and the brewery’s beloved Christmas Ale are sure to make a comeback — maybe sooner slightly than later.
“Let’s get again to work. Let’s deliver it again to life,” Ulukaya advised the Chronicle. “I don’t wish to sit round. Wouldn’t it’s wonderful to get it getting in time to make the Christmas ale this yr? That will be superior.”
As for brews just like the West Coast IPA, the Tropical Hazy IPA, Liberty Ale, and California Lager, Ulukaya will talk about with workers that are value bringing again. “It’s a aggressive panorama — numerous beers on the market. However who cares? From the opposite perspective you have got the individuals behind it, the historical past, the recipe, the title, and the custom aligned with this magical San Francisco,” he stated. “There isn’t a worth you may put into that.”
VP Professional Take
“I admit, I didn’t anticipate it to finish this manner. After I first broke the information of Anchor’s closure final July, I argued that there was a chance for a ‘benevolent’ Bay Space billionaire to descend from on excessive and deus ex machina the unique steam beer brewery out of its Sapporo USA-induced defunction, scooping up some public goodwill within the course of. After some preliminary chatter (together with a couple of self-identified family-office supervisor emailing yours actually inquiring after the monetary particulars of the agency), no critical suitors with that sort of money emerged. I’ve been following up on leads about Anchor’s liquidation since earlier than the public sale even formally started late final yr, and when none of them panned out, I figured the long-lasting brewery was headed for the scrap heap, each figuratively and actually.
The excellent news: that didn’t occur! An entire-enchilada sale was all the time essentially the most enticing one from a cultural perspective (if not a enterprise one) and that’s precisely what Hamdi Ulukaya seems to have pulled off right here. Retaining the bodily brewery coupled to its mental property is a extra dignified consequence for San Francisco’s (and American brewing’s) “grand jewel,” because the foodstuff mogul known as it in a video posted to social media this morning. It additionally units Anchor up for a smoother restart — so far as I do know, all of the gear remains to be in place on Potrero Hill, and former employees know their approach across the plant just like the again of their fingers, so the runway must be brief if Ulukaya intends to rehire ‘em. Watch carefully to see if that occurs.
‘We’re excited to listen to that Mr. Ulukaya desires to deliver again as many employees as attainable,’ Patrick Machel, a former manufacturing employee, tells me by cellphone. ‘The individuals who have made Anchor for many years stand able to return to work and begin making the beer town loves.’ He estimates that if Ulukaya is keen (and in a position) to rehire ‘a majority’ of the previous workers, Anchor could possibly be churning out beer a month later due to all of the institutional data of the place. The billionaire has not but contacted the Anchor SF Cooperative, the worker-led effort to amass Anchor that mothballed its bid earlier this yr, and his feedback to the Chronicle about Anchor Union, an Worldwide Longshore and Warehouse Native 6 affiliate that has represented employees on the plant since 2019, have been transient and noncommittal.
Whether or not Ulukaya does proper by Anchor’s former employees is an open query whose reply is a possible fly within the ointment, particularly given San Francisco’s left-leaning politics and the nation’s traditionally excessive pro-labor sentiment as of late. One other potential bummer forward: the billionaire has no expertise within the brewing business, and advised the Chronicle he was eager to develop Anchor’s distribution footprint. That’s a tricky row to hoe for a regional brewery that has numerous work to do to recapture its residence market, notably with all these headwinds we preserve speaking about.
I’ll attempt to not be too cynical earlier than Anchor’s Ulukaya chapter will get underway in earnest, although. At present, Steam Beer’s future is safer than it has been for practically a yr, and that’s one thing to rejoice.” —Dave Infante, VinePair columnist, podcast host, and contributing editor
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