The billionaire proprietor of the yogurt firm Chobani stated on Friday that he had acquired Anchor Brewing Firm, the San Francisco brewer that went out of enterprise final 12 months after 127 years.
Hamdi Ulukaya, who can also be Chobani’s chief govt, stated a video posted on social media that he regarded ahead to bringing Anchor Brewing “again to life.” The value Mr. Ulukaya paid to amass the brewing firm’s property from a liquidator was not disclosed.
The corporate, stated to be America’s oldest craft brewer, introduced it was shutting down in July 2023, citing the consequences of the pandemic, inflation and a extremely aggressive beer market.
Sam Singer, a spokesman for Anchor, stated on Friday that the corporate was “more than happy” in regards to the acquisition.
“He’s virtually an ideal match,” Mr. Singer stated of Mr. Ulukaya, a Turkish immigrant who, since founding Chobani in 2005, has helped deliver Greek yogurt into the American mainstream.
“We consider that he could have that very same magic contact in taking a historic brewery and reinvigorating it for future San Franciscans,” he stated.
Anchor’s gross sales had been declining since 2016, and in 2017, the corporate was acquired for round $85 million by the Japanese beer big Sapporo. The pandemic was significantly disruptive, Mr. Singer stated final 12 months, noting that 70 % of Anchor’s beers had been bought in eating places and bars. Efforts to adapt, together with a rebranding marketing campaign and a shift to bottling and canning extra of its beers to promote in grocery shops, “couldn’t make up for the numerous lack of gross sales,” he stated.
The corporate’s unionized workers pitched shopping for the brewer and working it as a co-op to maintain it in enterprise.
The announcement of the acquisition was cheered by Mayor London Breed of San Francisco, whereas critics questioned whether or not the corporate would be capable of keep its position as a group staple underneath new possession.
Esther Mobley, a senior wine critic for The San Francisco Chronicle, wrote that Anchor’s signature beer, Steam, was “an expression of the town’s uniquely quirky local weather.”
This can be a growing story.
