Even as more breweries open in the country, the beer industry continues to consolidate. Earlier this morning Constellation Brands, the company behind Corona, Ballast Point Brewing Co., wineries such as Mondavi, and spirits companies such as SVEDKA Vodka, announced that it has purchased Florida’s Funky Buddha Brewing Co.
The terms of the deal were not announced.
“Constellation and Funky Buddha share a lot of the same ideals and passion for philanthropy, entrepreneurship, and the art of craft beer,” said Funky Buddha Head Brewer and President Ryan Sentz in a press release. “At the end of the day, we just really like the people we have met within the organization, each of whom shares our dedication to making outstanding beer.”
The brewery, founded in 2010, made 45,000 barrels of beer last year and has a reputation for making full-flavored food-centric beers such as Maple Bacon Coffee Porter, which won gold in the 2016 World Beer Cup.
In a statement Paul Hetterich, executive vice president and president of the beer division at Constellation Brands said the brewery’s employees will continue to work together, with Sentz and his brother, Ryan, running the day-to-day operations.
“This is the right move for us on a number of levels,” said brewery brand director John Linn in a phone interview. He cited that the brewery was going to be closing in on capacity at its Oakland Park, FL brewery within the next two years so there was a need to find a way to continue to grow past that.
“Constellation is about the higher end consumer and that’s what we’re about. When we had the opportunity to join, it makes sense from access to market, to the distributor network, the physical resources and facilities,” he said. “At the same time they want us to be who we are.”
In following with the common language of these times of acquisitions, the statement concluded by saying “Funky Buddha’s standard of brewing will remain unchanged, delivering the same culinary-style, creative beer consumers and craft beer enthusiasts celebrate today.”