Founding Fathers

Founding Fathers

Casandra Steeves

Globe Universety  –MOL

Digital Marketing

I have always been intrigued by microbrews. Their unique flavorings and the stories of why someone decided to start producing beers (as well as anything else) have always attracted me. During a recent shopping trip, I was stopped by a salesman named Joe my favorite liquor store offering samples of a microbrew called, Founding Fathers. I’ve sampled many new things during designated “Tasting Nights”, as well as when they are stationed in the store as a marketing or sales campaign. I’ve met some pretty interesting patrons, as well as witnessed various sales ploys.

Joe was not trying to sell me beer; in fact he was offering me assistance carrying my purchases to the counter. He noticed that I had several different selections, varying from large breweries to a “6-er”- which is a conglomeration of 6 different microbrews in my own “Casie Sampler”. This is when he offered me a sample of Founding Fathers. I tried two samples, and he asked me what I thought, and at that point I was honest with him; “Not the best, but defiantly not the worse”. Joe then started telling me about the company’s charitable contributions, and I was immediately intrigued. Founding Fathers donates fifty percent of all profits to members of Armed Forces. Honestly, I was shocked, I’ve never heard of a company giving that much away, while trying to remain profitable and providing that much of an “unbiased sales campaign”. I am intrigued enough by Founding Fathers to wonder how they are competing against competitors, specifically local microbreweries or contract microbreweries, how their marketing strategies compare, and an overview of how they show social responsibility.

Founding Fathers motto is: Better beer, Better Cause. In 2011, founder Phil Knutsen quit his 22 year career in executive management to establish a company that would make a difference with the ordinary men and women who have risked their lives to make our country great. They currently have three microbrews: Amber, Light and Pale. I discovered, through my research that Founding Fathers is not a typical microbrew, it is technically a “Contract Microbrew”, meaning it has been brewed in another facility at a higher quantity, but still using the same recipe or formula created. This is similar to contract manufacturing, as described in the book, “Understanding business”, Tenth Edition, by McHugh, McHugh and Nickels.  A lot of the best and best-known craft brews (gourmet beers made in a wide range of classic styles, using quality ingredients) aren’t micro brewed but are contract brewed in larger volumes than a microbrewery can handle. Contract brewers hire underutilized but well-equipped regional breweries to produce a recipe with the contract brewer’s own ingredients and formulas. The giveaway label lingo, if you can find the small print along the edges, is something like, “Brewed by XX Brewing Co. under special agreement, xyz Brewing Co., ABC State.” (Dummies.com, January 2012.)  Founding Fathers has considerable completion with several Minnesota-based contract breweries. Growlermag.com lists the following Minnesota-based contract breweries: Bard’s Beer Company, Brainerd Lakes Beer, Finnegan’s, Fytenburg Brewing Co, Joseph Wolf Brewing Co, Lake Monster Brewing CO, Lakemaid Beer, St. Croix Brewing Co, and Tonka Beer Co.  Of all above listed contract breweries, only one markets its charitable contributions; Finnegan’s. Unlike Founding Fathers, Finnegan’s donates to a variety of charities (not just military based) by donating one hundred percent of all profits to a bank known as “Finnegan’s Community Bank”. I am all for giving back to my community and those in need, and I think that this is an excellent marketing opportunity, however, I believe the goal of most free market entrepreneurships  is to generate a profit.