What are the biggest challenges of craft breweries? Interview: Three Buddies Brewery

International Beer Day, celebrated on August 4, is the best time of year to take a look at the artisanal breweries that have been gaining real enthusiasts in Poland for many years. Who is Beer geek? What are the biggest challenges of craft breweries? What types of beer do Poles have? Irmina Vahna-Sosin, co-owner and creator of the Three Buddies Brewery brand, answers these and other questions.

What makes the beer industry unusual? What makes it different?

First of all, it is a small distance between the producer and the consumer. Rarely does a customer have the opportunity to directly contact the business owner, talk to them, or exchange thoughts about their favorite product. This happens very often with craft beer. Craft enthusiasts are well versed in who owns a particular brewery, who belongs to the team, and who does what. They have the opportunity to meet their favorite teams at craft beer festivals that are regularly held in different cities. They also often write directly to the brewery using all sorts of communicators, sharing their delight or disappointment (because this also happens) about individual brews or other nuances related to beer. It seems quite unusual and valuable to me that contact with the manufacturer of your favorite lattice beer can be so close, actually at your fingertips or on the phone. This is very valuable for both parties, because contact with the customer, their voice, interest in our product, a good word or constructive criticism is a huge motivation for us. 

Collaboration is another distinctive feature of this industry. Craft breweries, while competing with each other every day, can also work great together. They exchange knowledge and experience in solving various difficulties related to production, legislation or other requirements, and there are a huge number of them. They also support themselves in difficult situations, such as borrowing the missing raw materials or equipment needed to produce beer efficiently. In general, we can say that kraft in Poland, although constantly young and emerging, is full of interesting people, with different stories, experiences, approaches, but everyone contributes something from themselves, and together this creates an extremely interesting and exciting world.

What are the biggest challenges craft breweries face?

This is a difficult question, because craft breweries face different challenges at different stages of development, but it seems to me that now such a big problem for all of us is finding ourselves in the new financial and economic reality. For many small breweries that have so far been operating month after month, without a back-up financial cushion or without investor support, this time can be an insurmountable hurdle. 

On the contrary, from the perspective of 9 years of managing and developing a brewery, it can also be challenging to move out of the paradigm of self-fulfilling all responsibilities and be willing to invest in team development. Craft brewery management is also the management of such areas as: sales, distribution, fundraising, investment, financial control, legal issues in the broad sense, team building, marketing, strategic brand development, and each of these areas represents a separate universe. We also initially worked in a very limited team, most of the duties were performed independently with my husband, but very quickly realized that without creating and supporting a good team, we would not be able to cope. Fortunately, the decision to hire people and agree to this investment was one of the best we made. In the following years, we have managed to develop a team of three friends, who are now our pride and huge support, and thanks to this, we can have any space to think about where we are going and how we want to get there.

source: pixabay

What types of beer do Poles have? What type of beer is their favorite?

I dare not point out the favorite type of beer for all Poles, but I can probably venture to say that just good beer is becoming more and more popular. Poles are becoming more conscious and educated consumers of craft beer. People who are already deeply immersed in the world of craft beer, so-called beer. Beer Geecy they perfectly know the taste of high-quality craft beer, are able to recognize its shortcomings, and know what to expect from a particular style. They also, of course, have their own favorite beers, but first of all, they test a lot, look for new products and evaluate their choice on the relevant portals. 

In turn, people who "just" love beer and don't care so deeply about it seem to me increasingly open to the craft world. They're just looking for good taste. In our brand store in Tarnovo, there are more and more people who ask specifically about " good beer”" Someone recommended them, someone tried them, and this taste pleased them. They discover their beer preferences with us that they didn't even know about before. It is also clear that quantity is increasingly becoming quality. We hear from customers that they prefer to drink less, but still something that they really like and of good quality.

What, besides taste, do we pay attention to today when choosing alcohol?

Along with quality, we also pay attention to its transparency, which means who produces this or that alcohol, from what, how and where. Locality is also an important issue. We are more willing to try something that occurs nearby or is related to the region in which we are temporarily located. These products interest us then, they are a definite complement to the experience we have with a particular place. Our choices are increasingly influenced by questions related to our diet, i.e. calorie content, whether beer is vegan, gluten-free, and alcohol content, because we are increasingly turning to non-alcoholic beer.

What values are beer consumers looking for today? What is it that convinces him?

I think authenticity, honesty and quality. All this may sound a little haughty, but in fact, these qualities are easily found in any pint of beer. In order for the beer that we pour into bottles, cans, and barrels every day to be what we want and love (*we brew what we like), and therefore have the appropriate quality, it must be created with the utmost care and attention to detail.  

It starts right at the stage of beer invention, when we decide what it will be like, what it will taste like, what the label will look like. The choice of raw materials, each stage of boiling, the method of storing beer, and transportation is also of great importance. We also put a lot of effort into how we present the finished beer to our customers. All of this requires a lot of hard work, effort and commitment from many people, as well as authenticity and honesty at every turn – the production of the beer itself and the business relationships we build. I believe that without this, you can't brew good beer, or you can, but only in the short term, because sooner or later the audience will still feel whether the product is good and compatible with what is written on the brewery's website or on social networks.

For me, as a co-owner of the brewery, these three values were very significant from the very beginning, and I want to believe that our customers are not only looking for them, but also find them in our beer.

Craft beer has been gaining more and more popularity in our country for several years. What does this mean? 

People are tired of mass production, they want to know the producer, know where and how their beer is produced, they identify with small and local producers, they want to support them. This happens not only in the beer industry, but also in the clothing or food industry, where we look for, for example, local cheeses, honey, artisanal chocolates or juices from small factories. We want to use and consume products of ever better quality, we are increasingly aware, we want to have a choice.

source: pixabay

How difficult is it to produce craft beer?

The brewing process itself is actually simple and pretty well described in many places: in books, newspapers, forums or blogs, as well as on our websitewhere I cordially invite those who are interested in the individual stages. So this is not secret knowledge. This can be seen, for example, by the number of homebrewers who constantly appear. Many breweries, including ours, had just such a beginning. The first Brews were cooked in home kitchens. 

Complications begin at the time of switching to "big Gary", when you have to switch from 30-liter fermentation containers to several large tanks of 30 hl, 60 hl or 90 hl (let me remind you that 1 hl is 100 liters). This change can be overwhelming, and the process of making a good beer on such a large scale is already much more complex. It's like cooking – it's easier to make a good soup for 4-8 people than for 300 or 500 people, and it's still delicious every time. For craft beer lovers, quality is important, but also the repeatability of brewing. Maintaining the same quality of beer, the same good taste and aroma is often a huge challenge, because we also deal with different batches of raw materials. Here, too, as in the preparation of soup, tomatoes will have a different tomato flavor in the summer, and tomatoes will have a different flavor in the winter, even if nothing changes in the recipe itself. Therefore, large-scale brewing requires proper preparation. More financial costs are needed, more restocking, appropriate logistics resources, inventory, and finally ideas for promotion and sales. Juggling all these balls can be tricky. This will not be possible without the advanced knowledge and experience of the Brewers and a good team on other fronts.

Who is the consumer of craft beer? What is the main persona of your brand? 

We have two main characterswhich, of course, do not fully describe our entire audience, but nevertheless make up the vast majority.

The first of them is the so-called one. beer geekwhich I already mentioned, which means a very strong person who works in craft, knows the breweries, the people who create them, and follows the latest developments. Beer geek goes to beer festivals, buys in specialty stores, and visits pubs. He evaluates the beer he drinks online and keeps his own statistics. He's mostly interested in beer.

Second conscious consumer, who likes good food, good products, appreciates quality, locality, less craft production. He is interested not only in beer, but also in good bread, cheese, cold cuts and other eco-friendly products. He often travels, looks for new tastes, visits good restaurants. Thus, most often three friends get to drink beer.

Do you have a lot of competition in the Polish beer market? Is this sector saturated?

Saturation is still far away, judging by the fact that the share of craft beer in the beer market is constantly less than 1% (In 2020, the Polish Association of Craft Breweries estimated that the share of so-called craft beer in the total beer market in Poland was approximately 0.6%.) Recent severe events, such as the pandemic, war, as well as inflation and a significant increase in commodity prices, have greatly slowed the dynamic growth of this share. It's also harder to start with brand new breweries. Despite this, the industry is constantly young, constantly developing, there are new breweries, new initiatives. The competition is there and growing, but we are happy about it, because it develops the entire industry, allows us to attract more beer lovers who, exploring new tastes, will switch to the craft side.

Did the crisis and high inflation lead to a crisis in this sector?

Yes, of course, and that's quite a lot. The sudden rise in prices for electricity, gas, raw materials and transport has greatly affected the profitability of many industries. At the same time, sales suddenly plummeted, restaurants and pubs closed, and people forced to save money gave up luxury goods in the first place. We felt it too, but fortunately, we managed to survive the most difficult time, mainly by reducing the scale of production and avoiding any additional investments. We are gradually and steadily returning to our previous production volumes.

What is the future of craft beer? Is there a place on the market for small breweries just starting out?

I believe that this industry still faces a lot of good things, that it will grow, mature and enter the next stages of development. Breweries that have been present in the market for several years will continue to grow and grow, although probably not as fast as in the early years of the beer revolution. Of course, there is still a lot of room for new breweries, especially those that will rely on quality, locality, and perseverance in achieving the goal.

What can you wish companies like Three Buddies Brewery for Beer Day?

Perseverance and the successful vareks themselves. In this often difficult daily life, never lose your love for crafting!

source: pixabay