Milwaukee’s oldest craft brewer has gone soft. Drinks, that is.
When Sprecher Brewing Co. purchased the Ooh La Lemin Lemonade brand in October, it marked its sixth acquisition since its new ownership took over the Glendale company in February 2020. Sales have tripled since then.
“We’ve been in a major expansion mode,” Sprecher Chief Executive Officer Sharad Chadha says.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
Other labels acquired by Sprecher since Chadha and a small group of investors purchased the company from founder Randy Sprecher include Green River, Black Bear, Caruso, Olde Brooklyn and WBC.
The purchases aren’t just about expanding its product line; they’ve also allowed the company to introduce Sprecher’s own craft sodas and beer into new markets through the established ties with these local brands. Sprecher soda products are now available in 49 states. “Our beverages are now in more than 23,000 stores and we have hundreds of new and expanded accounts,” Chadha says.
Revenue from soda now accounts for about 90% of Sprecher’s business, compared with about 80% at the time of the company’s sale.
Chadha declined to provide specific sales figures for Sprecher’s overall business but says ownership has a defined target. “We are trying to get to $100 million in the next few years,” he says.
To account for current and projected growth, Sprecher has doubled its workforce to 135 employees in recent years, including the addition of a second shift to meet demand. It’s also upgraded its bottling line, added a new can line and expanded its warehouse space in Glendale. In October, it acquired Excent, a Germantown company with a 128,000-square-foot facility that specializes in “variety” packaging and packing.
Aside from the recent Excent acquisition, nearly all of Sprecher’s employees are based at its Glendale facility, 701 W. Glendale Ave. – though Chadha says that could change if growth dictates a need for producing its heavy product closer to where it’s in demand. “We are open to having a small production facility on the West Coast or in the South, but our core will be here in Glendale,” Chadha says.
Last year, Sprecher changed the packaging of its beers from bottles to cans with new labels as part of a brand refresh. Cans weigh less, making them easier to ship and they are appealing to consumers because they are easier to recycle and can be taken to the beach or poolside where glass containers aren’t permitted, Chadha explains.
Sprecher has also introduced new craft soda flavors, including three low-calorie options, and recently unveiled 16-ounce cans for nine of its flavors.
The company also has a distiller permit and winery license, which paves the way for production of hard seltzers, flavored malt beverages and cider, Chadha says.
“We have some of our own in the works already, but we also do contract manufacturing for some other brands,” he says.
Although now accounting for a much smaller slice of sales, Chadha says Sprecher remains committed to beer and has introduced new brews in 2023 including draft-only Midwest IPA and Saison.
Beer has been the foundation of Sprecher’s business since its launch in 1985, which make it the oldest craft brewer in the Milwaukee area. While acknowledging Sprecher’s history, the ongoing proliferation of craft breweries makes the beer market increasingly challenging, Chadha says.
The number of operating craft breweries continued to climb in 2022, reaching an all-time high of 9,552, according to The Brewers Association, a Boulder, Colorado-based trade association.
As a result, the best future growth opportunities will continue to be in craft sodas and all-natural beverages, says Chadha.
