Boston Beer Co.’s Jim Koch on being the 1%
On competition: As a craft brewer in America, after 27 years we’ve finally gotten to 1 percent market share, so my competition is not craft brewers because we’re all going to succeed or fail together. My real competition is ignorance and apathy. I’m about creating an appreciation of good beer, educating people about it and teaching them to treat it with respect. If I can do those things, I can succeed.
Some interesting background on Koch’s career in this one as well…
via Entrepreneur.com.
Breweries: The Boston Beer Company
“so my competition is not craft brewers because we’re all going to succeed or fail together”. – He’s a businessman first and a brewer second. That statement is a crock.
Jim Koch, like everyone makes his share of mistakes, his efforts for craft brewing outweigh the mistakes. Period.
Agreed, Patrick.
Surprise, surprise… The first comment on a Boston Beer thread is something negative towards Jim Koch and his successful CRAFT brewery. That one man, through his branding and hard work has done more good for this industry than arguably anyone. Luck? Business savvy? Who cares. It worked and is still working.
We all need to step back and recognize that we are all collectively where we are at right now, largely due to Boston Lager.
Cheers to Jim… From the lovers and haters alike.
Great Craft beer Jim, keep up the good work. Sorry Fred, you need to be educated more.
This is good stuff people and I wasn’t going to reply to any of it simply because you guys obviously love your Boston Beer Co.
I don’t hate Jim (BeerJon) and I have a mild amount of adoration for him. I’m just saying he’s a businessman 1st. Just ask his ex-VP (owner of Moonshot Beer, now defunct). After you look that up read a book (education Murphy) called Beer Blast by Phillip Van Munching. If you want to go further watch Beer Wars.
My point is don’t blindly follow someone simply because they say they do something. It’s important to note the actions. Hell if you think about it AB has done more for beer in the US than anyone. I respect AB but completely hate them as a business.
You want to support craft ale? Support your local brew-pub and brewer. They love the craft, not the business.
Oh and another thing BeerJon if you want to mention captains of craft beer how about Joe Weizmann? Michael Jackson? Jamil Zainasheff? Joe (along with many volunteers) works his ass off providing a HUGE craft beer selection to sample from during his AleFest(.com). All of the proceeds go to charity.
Remember this is ale in good fun so please don’t take my comments too literally. It’s beer for gods sake, lets not squabble over something we all love.