Making a mark in the industry indeed! The next move for Postmark? Vancouver is just one step in the plan for a larger market. Thorp explains that they plan on filling that “session-style” gap and bringing that West Coast lifestyle to reaches well beyond the Vancouver area. In fact, have already secured distribution across the Canadian Prairies. “Right now, we are sold across BC, Alberta, Sas- katchewan and Manitoba… When there were pricing changes in Alberta recently, we took a bit of a margin hit, but it’s important to us to support that market there. We’ve seen a huge uptake in Alberta. And I actually grew up in Calgary, so that market is important to me.” “Right now, we are sold across BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba… All indications point to the sky being the limit for Postmark. Atlantic Canada is starting to see their products filter onto their shelves. Of course, Ontario is the big nut to crack in Canada. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) is inun- dated with craft brews from across the world vying for shelf space in Canada’s most populated province. “We’ve met with the LCBO a few times and are looking at doing some submissions for our beers there. But we haven’t solidified that yet. That would be a goal for 2018.” International markets are also beginning to get a taste of Postmark. HUGE and evolving internation- al markets. Thorp points out, “We’ve expanded to Asia this year. We have friends who are in a distri- bution company and they took us on and they spe- cialize in selling to Asia. We analyzed the market and jumped on board early. I did a trip with them to Bangkok and Hong Kong. It was amazing. We are actually sold now in Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Thailand.” Postmark continues to bring the West Coast life- style in the Prairies, the Near East and the Far East! Chances are, with the ambition and branding smarts they are bringing to the market, you’re going to find their session-style beers on a shelf or tap near you — posthaste!
of regional significance. The name “Postmark” was chosen specifically to counter this philoso- phy. “We wanted a name that wasn’t attached to any one place. It enables the brand to have some room to grow. We don’t want to be limited by geography. We love the word ‘Post’ because the brewery came after (or post) some of the other project we’ve done. So, it felt new to us. And we were brainstorming and someone just blurted out ‘Postmark’ and it really felt like us — making our mark on the industry. And there aren’t a lot of busi- nesses using it, which helps me on the branding side.”
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APRIL 2019 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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