now you say cabernet sauvignon from western California,” he explains. “Everyone can be a beer drinker because there is a product that is better suited to their palette and that’s what we can focus on with craft beer.” “Everyone can be a beer drinker because there is a product that is better suited to their palette and that’s what we can focus on with craft beer.” So, they got the science of finding the taste down, but what about making a name for themselves in a fast-growing and somewhat crowded market space? According to Richard, since they opened their doors in January of last year, there have been close to 30 additional craft breweries pop up around Alberta; not all are necessarily claiming to have reinvented the wheel, but all want to help move it in a similar direction. Branding in any market is vital to help stand out in the crowd. Boasting great taste and local ingredi- ents is all well and good in this arena but Richard knows that the product must be visually appeal- ing. In house designs created by Andrea help round out the S.Y.C. (which stands for “show your colours”) experience. Every can is unique. Every beer has a story. Richard describes it as a dance with the product and brand experience. “How do you maneuver and mold it while keeping a balance and not lose sight of who we are and bring that all onto the can?” Complicated yet simple, Richard and his team stick to core principles to keep the status quo on par with both their and their customer’s expecta- tions. “Is the product familiar in both taste and branding? Do the quality ingredients showcase what’s best locally? Do we offer a sense of surprise – is the label eye-catching and the taste inviting? Is the actual product consistent with complex flavours that are full-bodied and exciting? That’s why it’s
Richard explains.
“The market knows what they want and we aren’t a brewery that says, ‘this is the beer we made and you have to drink it,’ we say, ‘this is the beer we make and we see if the market likes it,’ so we don’t want to present a product like a flagship beer,” noting that of the constant rotation of products, the ones that spike interest of the customers are usually recreated but based, once again, on demand not necessarily the push to just blindly
supply.
Further to that point, it’s been exciting for Richard to push the “beer drinker” and expand their taste buds; even going so far as to corralling those who have long deemed themselves not fans of the often one-note product.
“Much like the red wine versus white wine days,
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JANUARY 2020 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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