The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sweetwater’s vision is beyond beer now
On Nov. 4, Aphria Inc., a global c annabis company headquartered in Canada, announced a blockbuster agreement to acquire Atlanta’s Sweetwater Brewing Co.
But i f the $ 300 million cash and stock deal was a surprise, the affinity between the two companies seemed perfectly natural.
Swe e t Wat e r ’ s p o r t f o l i o o f beers, including its flagship 420 Extra Pale Ale, “ali gns with a cannabis lifest yle and provides a scalable platform for expansion into the U. S. and Canada,” is the way Aphria explained it in a press release.
Maybe most i mpor t a n t f o r Atlanta, though, Sweetwater’s management team will remain, along with some 125 employees. And f o under F r e ddy B e ns c h wil l c onti nue a s c hi e f executive officer.
Recently, I met up with Bensch at Sweetwater, where we s at down on the patio to talk about h ow h i s c o mpany b e c a me a wholly owned subsidiary of Aphria, and what that will mean for the future.
“It goes back to what we did 24 years ago, naming a beer 420,” Bensch said, referencing slang for marijuana. “I consider myself a visionary in a lot of regards, but to see this actually become a realit y is brilliant.”
Bensch credits Irwin D. Simon, Aphri a’s c hai r man a nd c hi e f executive officer, with seeing the synergy that could be achieved through the acquisition.
“It allows us to take what we’ve been doing and make it bigger, better, faster,” Bensch said. "The money ’s not goi ng t o c hange my life, to be straight- up honest. The most important thing i s that I can look in the mirror and say this i s a good deal for the business.
“T h e b o o k o p e n s u p a n d becomes so much more beyond what we’re doing. More importantly, with our employees, nothing changes. Everybody’s jobs are intact and enhanced. Now we’re a brewery that’s part of a cannabis company. People are excited, because t he vi si on i s beyond beer now. It’s beer and cannabis and THC and CBD and new facilities.”
Of course, a big par t of t he ongoing plans for new Sweetwater products, such as, say, seltzers with THC, depends on legalization in the U. S. But the brewery is already moving ahead in other areas, including the production of spirits, which are set for release beginning in 2021.
And with Aphria, Sweetwater will expand its beer production and di str i bution t o more U. S. states and into Canada.
“To not leverage what Aphria has in Canada right now, from a footprint and brand recognition standpoint, would be a miss,” B e ns c h s a i d. “Keep i n mind, we’re only in 26 states. Now it’s not just building a brewery, it’s building a brewer y and what else? And that’s cool, right?”
Asked about hi s day- t o - day
role in the operation of SweetWater, Bensch said it will largely stay the same, “but the horizon is a lot bigger.”
“The effort is to continue to do what Sweetwater does well — kick ass and make great beer, and be innovative, and work with our wholesalers, and be real to our consumers,” he said. “But conversely, now I’ve got this other side that’s screaming cannabis. So what does that look like and what’s the next level?
“This is my baby. It’s the only t hing I ’ ve done f or my entire adult life. And I care about what happens to my baby. To know that the story goes on in an even cooler fashion i s big to me. To sell and that be the end of the story, or just be swallowed up by one of the big guys, would not be cool. But this is beer and weed. And to me, this is the best potential outcome f or SweetWater, and for me, and for our employees.”