For New Belgium Brewing, environmental stewardship has been on the middle of its enterprise for the reason that starting. However as the necessity for local weather motion turns into extra urgent, it’s infusing that message into its flagship product, Fats Tire Ale.
The beer, brewed by the Fort Collins, Colo.-based brewery since 1991, has an up to date look, coloration, recipe and place. Launched this week with the tagline “prime quality, low influence,” the brand new Fats Tire affords a “brighter, crisper” tackle the decades-old beer. Regardless of the modifications, brewmaster Christian Holbrook assures followers in a press release that longtime drinkers will “clearly acknowledge the unique Fats Tire taste.”
As extra manufacturers align their values with a climate-conscious client base, New Belgium’s Fats Tire Ale rebrand affords an instance of the right way to construct that focus into the inspiration of a product. But it surely doesn’t come with out danger.
“We wouldn’t be doing this work with the model if we weren’t doing all of that [sustainability work] behind the scenes,” Katie Wallace, chief ESG officer at New Belgium Brewing, advised Adweek.
“If we weren’t saying the identical factor to our policymakers [and suppliers] that we’re saying to our prospects … if we hadn’t seen a few of that progress and been very dedicated to it by and thru, we’d not really feel okay about placing this so central in our new branding,” she added.
First, do the work
New Belgium is exclusive in that it’s a medium-sized firm with a legacy of prioritizing its folks and the planet, mentioned CEO Steve Fechheimer. Its dimension and construction lets it align all of its actions with the identical goal that underpinned its founding.
“We will carry a loud voice due to the scale of our corporations, however we’re not so massive that we’re being dealt with in a unique place,” Fechheimer mentioned. “We’re this medium-sized enterprise telling an necessary story about the true prices to our enterprise in authorities not addressing these main points.”
Although it was acquired by a Kirin Holdings subsidiary in 2019, it had been not less than partially beneath an worker inventory possession plan since 2000. Cofounder Kim Jordan and different stakeholders offered the whole thing of their shares into the ESOP by 2012.
Whereas it’s not unbiased, the model retains the ethos of its founders. Jordan, a social employee, and cofounder Jim Lebesch began brewing Fats Tire Ale out of their basement in 1991. Because it grew, the corporate established a sustainability division in 2003, grew to become a Licensed B Corp and signed onto 1% for the Planet.
Then, design on your viewers
In 2020, Fats Tire Ale grew to become the primary licensed carbon-neutral beer in the marketplace. Now, that truth lives entrance and middle on the model’s packaging.
To replace the model design, New Belgium labored with Austin, Texas-based design studio and artistic consultancy LAND. The brand new brand and messaging draw inspiration from the pre-digital period during which Fats Tire Ale was first conceptualized, Wallace famous.
“All of that’s meant to harken again to the place we started on this house,” Wallace mentioned. “Hopefully in a means that grabs local weather advocates’ consideration … My crew can do every thing we are able to do, however we’re nonetheless a part of these larger programs.”
The model labored with company Remedy to develop 15- and 30-second spots to announce the brand new recipe and rebrand. These adverts will run throughout among the NFL playoff video games this weekend, Fechheimer mentioned. That’ll be supported by nationwide samplings, plus a mixture of out of doors, related TV, native broadcast, digital and social media.
Combating for ‘the one planet with beer’
Beforehand, the model’s climate-focused advertising and marketing has been primarily relegated to stunts like 2021’s Fats Tire Torched Earth Ale, when the corporate created a beer created from components it predicts might be left after local weather change ravages the barley fields and water sources that brewers depend on. That included smoke-tainted water, dandelions and drought-resistant grains.
With the rebrand, that mission is included into the beer’s on a regular basis messaging, too. Language across the launch highlights the significance of local weather motion to guard “the one planet with beer.”
Wallace famous that among the apocalyptic situations simulated for the Torched Earth Ale venture are already coming into play. “2021 was the worst yr on file for barley harvest,” she mentioned. “And due to the unrelenting warmth, we had record-breaking wildfires proper round our river that gives water for beer.”
The danger of change
Lightening up Fats Tire Ale tracks with the tastes of youthful drinkers, based on Matt Simpson, proprietor of beer consultancy The Beer Sommelier. And reaching 21- to 29-year-olds is among the targets of this shift, Fechheimer mentioned.
Regardless of its place as New Belgium’s flagship providing, Fats Tire’s gross sales have been down roughly 14% year-over-year in 2019 and 2020. Thanks partially to local weather advocacy campaigns, the corporate mentioned, that improved for 2021 and 2022—down simply 5% for every of these years. The corporate wouldn’t share gross sales volumes however did say that Voodoo Ranger, New Belgium’s line of IPAs, surpassed Fats Tire “considerably” lately.
Nonetheless, it’s dangerous to make modifications to a beer that’s been round for over 30 years. It was the sixteenth best-selling craft beer within the U.S. final yr, per New Belgium.
Altering the recipe isn’t one thing that Simpson would have carried out, he mentioned, given the success that New Belgium has had with the brew. Nonetheless, he predicts the brand new recipe is one thing that its core fanbase will nonetheless get pleasure from, given the outline.
“Fats Tire is exclusive. I don’t know of another beers which can be similar to it,” Simpson mentioned. “It suits successfully the place American brown ale does, however a bit bit lighter in coloration, and with Belgian yeast, which produces a unique finish.”
