BrewDog USA's Eric Franco on Gaining Greater Autonomy and Getting Focused

Less has been more with BrewDog's U.S. business over the last year and a half. On the latest episode of the Brewbound Podcast, BrewDog USA chief sales and marketing officer Eric Teodoro Franco explains how the business has "done fewer things better," leading with a focus on its core brands, which helped the brand increase volume 26% last year, to 89,084 barrels of beer, according to data from the Brewers Association (BA). "We were very, very famous and very willing to be famous for throwing a lot against the wall and seeing what would stick for many, many years," Franco shared. "We can do that in the U.K. where you have a 50-plus share and you can develop a lot of things and trial and try new things. "In this market, we did that and it didn't work. We've really taken our range plan, we've taken our focuses down to really doing fewer and better things." That's led to improved wholesaler partnerships and led to a redeployment of BrewDog's teams to better support its core markets, Franco said. Additionally, BrewDog USA has been given the opportunity to run its operations with some autonomy from its homebase in Scotland as its U.S. leadership team has earned the trust of the global team. "We're running things the way we need to run them," Franco said. "Same on the food side and on the retail side of our business. "For many years, we were very much driven by what the U.K. or international bars looked like, and we would apply that narrative, if you will, or business plan to the U.S. bars. That's gone away as well." Franco also discusses how the exits of founders James Watt and Martin Dickie have affected the U.S. business, how the company is approaching innovation and how the company has rethought both its distribution footprint and its taproom strategy. Before the interview, Brewbound's Justin Kendall, Jessica Infante and Zoe Lica break down the impending closure of 21st Amendment Brewery, the removal of a study from the dietary guidelines process and the challenges of making an alcoholic version of better-for-you soda. They also dig into TikTok trends and the latest grousing about Generation Z's bar habits.