A COHNversation with Jim

Jim Cohn, publisher of Mid-Atlantic Events Magazine, talks to people.

HI BILL. GREAT SEEING YOU LAST MONTH. VICTORY BREWING COMPANY IS A WELL-KNOWN BRAND, SO LET’S JUMP RIGHT INTO IT, HOW WAS THE COMPANY FORMED?

Good seeing you too, Jim! Victory Brewing Company has its roots in Montgomery County, PA, where myself and my business partner, Ron Barchet, met on a school bus in 1973. My father later taught me to homebrew, and I gave Ron a homebrewing kit as a Christmas gift in 1985. The next year, he headed off to the Technical University of Weihenstephan in Friesing, Germany for formal brewing education and I completed the International Course in Brewing Studies at Doemens Institute in Munich in 1993.

Properly educated, we incorporated in 1994 and began selling shares in our S-corporation. When we were writing our business plan in 1994 there were only 460 breweries in the U.S. Today, there are over 9,800. We had to evolve our plan well before opening, as we faced the reality that beer wholesalers did not value an unknown product highly enough for us to find profit beyond our high costs of European malts and whole flower hops, so we opted to self-distribute. We were then convinced that we had to tell our story ourselves by direct delivery to retailers, by creating a 144-seat taproom, and by educating our hospitality staff.

Being mindful of the profile of consumers who would appreciate both the attributes of European quality beer served fresh, as well as the “hands on” ethic of local production, we chose to locate on the edge of where the Main Line becomes farms. Our revitalization of the Pepperidge Farm plant initially received curious, then enthusiastic, local support.

WITH SO MANY BREWERIES OUT THERE, HOW HAVE YOU SO EFFECTIVELY BUILT YOUR BRAND?

Events! Honestly. Whether it was a family event or our participation in festivals like the Great American Beer Festival, we realized that our product was just a positive component in life's rich pageant. We endeavored to provide folks with great experiences that created attachments for them to our products.

Many companies market by broadcasting an ideal narrative of their product, but do little to engage. Our hospitality operations permitted us an opportunity to accept and process our customers' responses and guide our business operations. We created communitysupporting events like Downingtown FallFest, Amber Waves - an art and beer fundraiser with our friends at Dogfish Head Brewery, The Brewer's Plate, and so many more.

HOW DO YOU ATTRACT NEW CONSUMERS WHILE ALSO RETAINING YOUR LOYAL, EXISTING CUSTOMERS?

For me, a beer needs to accomplish only two things. It must provide both comfort and excitement and we maintain this simple perspective at a very high level to meet our consumers’ expectations. This dynamic applies to our taprooms, in that, part of their appeal to our established patrons is their consistency and familiarity with these patrons, i.e., their comfortability. Once we have them within our doors, we surprise and excite them with new product releases, rotating community engagement events, entertaining themed events, and frequently updated cuisine offerings. The “buzz” is measurable on social media, and our reciprocal participation with users who share this content strengthens our relationship with these fans and puts this content in front of new audiences.

On the packaged beer side, our most notable strategy has been growing “The Monkey Franchise” beyond our top selling Golden Monkey. In 2022, Berry Monkey, a raspberry accented sour tripel, joined Golden Monkey and Sour Monkey in our portfolio to strong success. Next, Juicy Monkey is, right now, demonstrating great success in five target markets and is further differentiated from other members of the Monkey family as an IPA, not a form of Belgian tripel. This strategy excites a well-stablished legion of loyalists (Golden Monkey was first released in 1997) and their expressed enthusiasm stimulates trial and adoption in new customers who seek new flavor experiences.

Yes, beer consumers are so much better educated today; they understand a myriad of beer styles, ingredients and how those drive flavor. Growing a business through that time, we feel so blessed that they sup- ported this revolution and encouraged us to experiment with styles and flavors. Also important is how they came to respect beer as the culinary partner that it is. I recall how proud I felt when the Four Seasons in Philadelphia began stocking Prima Pils in their room minibars! About that same time (2010), we began working with Visit Philly to establish our Summer Love Ale as part of a craft beer awareness and tourism hook for Philadelphia - literally posting welcoming “postcards” from Philly as the back labels to our bottles of Summer Love distributed to over 20 states across the country.

More awareness for craft beer has brought more producers, expanding consumer options on retail shelves and in restaurants to a near saturation level. Therefore, I believe that consumers' behavior has been altered simply by circumstances. They have no reason to remain loyal to a brewery or style, as the allure of new flavor experiences - the thrill that first got them to step away from insipid macro brands - is always available to them now.

WHAT ARE YOUR NEXT STEPS FOR THE BEVERAGE SIDE OF THINGS, AS WELL AS FOR YOUR RESTAURANT’S GROWTH?

We consume, analyze, and deploy a significant amount of consumer trend data to sketch flavor targets for our R&D brewing team to point their creativity toward. Where all this brainstorming activity will land us next year, I cannot yet tell you, but I'm certain that it will be delicious and compelling.

On the taproom side, we are continuing to evolve in a manner that was first made apparent to us when we combined forces with Southern Tier Brewing Co. and Southern Tier Distilling Co. to form Artisanal Brewing Ventures in 2016. Now, with Sixpoint Brewery and Bold Rock Hard Ciders in the ABV family, we have an exciting array of drinks with which to attract, entertain and retain customers.

As we have grown this fun family of delicious brands, we have broadened our perspectives as 12 taprooms flying the various ABV brand flags join with 4 Victory taprooms to provide us with experience and actionable data in markets ranging from Buffalo to Charlotte and west to Cleveland.

HOW ARE YOU SETTING VICTORY APART FROM OTHER TOP REGIONAL BREWERIES?

We have both the blessing and curse of having been in front of consumers for 27 years. In that time, we have established strong loyalties, while emerging 21-yearolds might think we are simply their father's beer and, therefore, not very compelling to them. We strive to leverage those hard-won loyalties into powerful referrals of support.

We also recognize that our most successful brands, Golden Monkey, Sour Monkey, DirtWolf and HopDevil, are personified on the labels and in the brand narrative and generate fun and friendly “characters” that you interact with. Judiciously, we expand our “cast” with exciting new characters. I do feel that this is a major point of difference in Victory over how some of our peers are marketed and perceived. Also, I believe area consumers would say that Victory is reliable, and our continual attention to quality over all has allowed us to earn the name Victory, by delivering a staggering number of “hits” over 27 years in ratio to very, very few “misses.”

The only event in Delaware County promoting unique venues, hotels, restaurants, country clubs and event services to regional planners of corporate and association meetings, special events, travel, group outings, retreats, and more.

The Inn at Grace Winery

Thursday, October 19, 2023 | 4:00p.m. – 7:30p.m.

FEATURING

Christopher Chocolates • Drexelbrook

Fearless Restaurants/Autograph Brasserie/White Dog Café/Rosalie at the Wayne Hotel

Garces Events/Amada Radnor/Buena Onda • Gifford-Risely House

Harvest Seasonal Grill • Holiday Inn & Suites Philadelphia West - Drexel Hill

The Inn at Grace Winery • The Inn at Villanova University

Sage Catering • Wawa Catering

Chester County Culinary Challenge

June 8, 2023 – Malvern, PA – The very popular Chester County Culinary Challenge, hosted by Chester County Conference & Visitors Bureau connected over 80 regional meeting and event planners, executive assistants, and administrative professionals along with Chester County CVB hospitality partners as they teamed up putting their cooking skills to the test and battle against each other to compete for prizes and awards at the Desmond Hotel Malvern, A Doubletree by Hilton. The 'challenging' part of this culinary evening is that participants do not know what they are making or what 'pop-up' challenges will happen until the event starts. This year the theme was “Breakfast in Bed”. Teams worked together to first create a variety of breakfast dishes to wow the judges.

Photo Credits: Mario Oliveto Photography