Founded by University of Rhode Island graduates Adam Oliveri and Bryan Ferguson, Craft Collective is an independent beer distributor that helps craft beverage producers, including beer smiths, cider makers and coffee roasters, build their brands in New England. The company launched in 2015 and now distributes dozens of craft beverages in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Maine (think brews like Finback, SingleCut, Proclamation, Aeronaut, Graft Cider, Shaidzon and Prospect Ciderworks). Rhode Island Inno caught up with Oliveri and Ferguson to discuss how Craft Collective helps craft brands achieve their goals.
Rhode Island Inno: How did you come up with the idea for Craft Collective? Oliveri and Ferguson: We can trace Craft Collective’s lineage all the way back to our time at the University of Rhode Island, where we first met. We have some great memories of evenings spent at Newport Storm, exchanging wooden nickels for Hurricane Amber Ales, an experience that served as our introduction to craft beer and the foundation for what Craft Collective would someday become.
After graduation, Adam moved to New York and had the opportunity to work with several tech startup incubators. We saw a place for a similar model in craft beer, bringing microbreweries together to share resources and equipment, collaborate and network. With a personal passion for craft beer, we wanted to build a company that would help grow craft beer culture. We initially planned to do just that, but we eventually made the decision to pivot from the incubator concept for a few reasons, primarily because we saw that small, local breweries needed a like-minded distribution partner that understood their businesses and were prepared to handle their scale. Ultimately, we thought we could do more for craft beer as a whole by specializing as a distributor that is more culturally aligned with small brewers.
RII: As a distributor, how do you help the brands you partner with? Oliveri and Ferguson: Simply put, we deliver products including beer, cider, kombucha and cold brew coffee from our brands to the craft beverage drinkers who appreciate quality, small batch liquids. Of course, there’s so much that goes into the “delivery” and making sure the customer experience is flawless, from day-to-day activities like identifying retail partners and operating a fleet of refrigerated trucks to strategic planning with the brewers who look to us for guidance on how the market is evolving.
"[We're] over here reminding them of how cool the Providence scene is and how much opportunity there is along the coast in the summer."
RII: How do you help build and market their brands? Oliveri and Ferguson: Many of our breweries are focused on making beer and running their taprooms, so they rely on us to brand-build in our distribution areas through tasting events, beer fests, social media and larger activation. They’re brewing smaller batches of beer, so they send us what they can to build some enthusiasm in the market and maybe convert some new fans. In some regard, distributing like this serves as marketing vehicle for their taprooms. What often happens is a consumer tries a can brewed by, say, a Vermont brewery, loves it, wants more and plans a day or weekend trip up to the brewery for the full experience.
Outside of the taproom, we’re trying to create more consumer experiences that mimic the bay door open, everyone-hanging-out-and-enjoying-the-afternoon-together atmosphere. The SoWa Boston Beer Barn is a great example of this. From May through October, we curate and deliver the beer for this Sunday beer garden in Boston’s South End neighborhood. It’s laid back, family- and dog-friendly, and best of all, consumers can try new beers or enjoy their favorites. For the traditional stuff, we are at the Beervana fest every year and we’ll be at the Rhode Island Brew Fest in January.
RII: How did you get into the Rhode Island market? What are some Rhode Island companies you work with? Oliveri and Ferguson: We expanded to Rhody last year for a few reasons. One, we started this business to give small craft producers access to metro markets that were previously inaccessible to them because their businesses were deemed too small by existing distributors. After establishing our Boston and broader Massachusetts operations, we set our sights on Providence and Rhode Island, where we already had relationships with the local breweries [like] Proclamation Ale Co., Shaidzon Beer Co. and Long Live Beerworks. This network was the foundation for our Rhode Island business. We also had suppliers such as Queens, N.Y.-based Finback [and] Basil Lee ... with roots in the area who wanted to see their beer in the Rhode Island market.
RII: What are your plans for the future? Oliveri and Ferguson: We plan to continue growth in both Rhode Island and throughout greater New England. We just expanded to Portland, Maine. We’re also on the lookout for great new breweries in Rhode Island as the scene continues to mature, so that we can bring you more top quality beer brewed right here. We’re chatting with a couple of potential partners that we feel really good about. We’ll continue to present the Rhode Island market to all breweries that we interact with to bring in more great out-of-state beer. Suppliers often overlook Rhody, so [we're] over here reminding them of how cool the Providence scene is and how much opportunity there is along the coast in the summer.
