Over the past eight years, Mother Earth Brew Co. has grown from a nanobrewery on one end of a Vista homebrew supply store, to a large brewing company that has since taken over most of the industrial complex that houses its original facility, and operates a taproom as well as an eatery in downtown Vista, all while running its largest production facility in Nampa, Idaho. On tap of that, Mother Earth now distributes to 17 states. In short, they’ve come a long way. It’s that progress that was key in the company earning the Bronze Brewer Partner of the Year award at the 81st National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) Annual Convention and Product Showcase, which was held in San Diego last week.
“Mother Earth Brewing has worked hard to expand its footprint to 17 states in just eight years,” said NBWA president and CEO Craig Purser. “They’re constantly pushing the limit to create celebrated, handcrafted brews that offer a beer for every occasion. Their creative ability and drive are contagious.”
Mother Earth’s various locations combine to provide the company 70,000 square feet of production space. The company’s annual barrelage now stands around 40,000, with a 2019 projection of more than 50,000 barrels. That is a lot of beer to sell, and the NBWA cites Mother Earth’s assistance in doing so, primarily via creative marketing initiatives and a devotion to properly training distributor staff about its beers, as a key reason for it earning this prestigious accolade.
“This is an honor without compare. With over 6,000 functioning breweries in the nation that are serviced by over 3,000 independent distributors, the math alone on receiving a nomination is mind-numbing,” says Mother Earth vice president of sales and distribution Kevin Hopkins. “Three-tier distribution is the foundation on which we have built our business model. We would be unable to operate two production breweries that are geographically 1,000 miles apart without strong distribution. Mother Earth is now found from sea to shining sea because of our distribution partners and we are better for it.”