BrewSmart: Business Leadership

If you're an established Brewery Owner, Operator, or Investor and find yourself asking either "How do we get profitable?" or "How profitable can we get?" you'll find exactly those answers in this session.

With a wide range of different brewery types and sizes, true apples-to-apples comparisons are rare, and many owners end up flying blind, running the business with a finger to the wind. Instead, in this session we’ll use our Brewery Benchmarks Model, built on data from our work with 285+ breweries across the country, to give clarity on the most important financial benchmarks brewery owners need to know.

By the end of the session, you’ll know how you compare to your peers, where your biggest profit opportunities are, and how to avoid the mistakes most common to your model. Our goal is to help eliminate the guesswork, so you can make confident decisions and run a profitable business, regardless of size, age, or market conditions.

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn key financial benchmarks across the spectrum of brewery models,
including pricing, COGS, labor, rent and utilities, advertising, cash, and debt.
2. Understand where you stand against benchmarks specific to your brewery’s
model, size, and revenue mix.
3. Uncover your brewery’s largest profit-generating opportunities and how to take
action to capitalize on them.
4. Walk away with a customized roadmap to improve and sustain your brewery’s
performance, regardless of market conditions.

People-related decisions can quietly have a major impact on a brewery’s bottom line. This session looks at common HR pitfalls that cost established breweries money, including turnover beyond recruiting costs, scheduling inefficiencies, role creep, and unmanaged performance, and explains why these issues matter financially.

The focus is on real-world patterns and practical takeaways rather than HR basics or compliance checklists. Attendees will leave with clearer insight into where people-related costs often hide and what brewery leaders can do to reduce risk and improve efficiency.

This engaging session will focus on the current state of commercial real estate for craft brewery businesses.Key topics include tenant and buyer priorities, buildout costs, and the pros and cons of leasing versus buying. The discussion will also cover common challenges in acquiring commercial buildings, such as lease negotiations and tenant improvement expenses. Whether you own, lease, or are looking to secure a space for your craft brewery business, this session offers valuable insights you won’t want to miss.

Brewery merchandise can be a meaningful revenue stream and brand touchpoint when it is approached strategically. This session explores what actually sells in taprooms, with insights from across the merch process on aligning design with brand, choosing the right product mix, and avoiding common inventory mistakes. The conversation also looks at how placement, visibility, and point-of-sale presentation influence purchasing decisions. Attendees will leave with practical guidance for evaluating their merch program and making smarter decisions that support both brand and revenue goals.