It survived the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Prohibition and both world wars. But recent economic pressures have proved too much for the company that claims to be the nation’s oldest craft brewer: After 127 years, Anchor Brewing Company is closing.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the company, founded in 1896, said the effects of the pandemic, inflation and a highly competitive market had left it “with no choice but to make the sad decision to stop operations.” Employees were given 60 days’ notice and promised severance packages, the company said. Anchor added that even though it has stopped brewing, it will continue to package and distribute the beer as long as it is available. It will be sold on draft while inventory lasts, he said.
The brewer’s sales have been declining since 2016, and in 2017, the company was obtained for about $85 million by Japanese beer giant Sapporo.
“Anchor’s heart stake is the pandemic,” Sam Singer, a spokesman for the company, said by phone Wednesday, noting that 70 percent of its product is sold in restaurants and bars. In 2021, Anchor Brewing tried to adapt, rebranding and bottling and canning more of its beers to sell in grocery stores. But those changes “won’t make up for the huge loss of sales,” he added. In a last-ditch attempt to stay afloat, Anchor limited its beer sales to California, and stopped making one of its products, a Christmas ale.
But costs continue to exceed revenues. “The bottom line is that Anchor ran out of money, and it ran out of time,” Mr. Singer.
Anchor, beloved by many Americans and often credited with sparking the craft beer revival of the 1960s, is the latest brewer to succumb to the pressures of a highly competitive market. In recent years, many smaller brewers have become absorbed by large companies. Others rearranged their distribution models, or closed.
Regional brewers like Anchor that are large enough to sell their beers nationally but small enough to be considered a craft brewery are most vulnerable. They face competition from both local micro breweries and macro breweries like Coors or Miller, said Jarrett Hart, an agricultural and economics scholar at the University of California, Davis, whose research focuses on craft beer. “They are facing losses year after year in profits, and they are basically losing market share,” he said.
After Sapporo acquired Anchor, the workers spoke about what they described as inadequate pay and unfair working conditions, and voted to unionize in 2019.
Joanne Marino, the executive director of the Bay Area Brewers Guild, said Wednesday that given the dire economic realities, it’s no surprise Anchor closed. But she said the news was still heartbreaking.
“Whenever a small brewery is bought by a large, multinational conglomerate, the calculus changes a little bit for their existence,” Ms. Marine “It’s not a surprise, but it’s a shock and it’s a very sad day here.”
Anchor Brewing said that despite repeated efforts to find buyers for the brewery and its brands, nothing materialized. said Mr. Singer said the brewery has gone through many crises in its history, and hopes there may still be a chance for revival if a buyer steps forward during the liquidation process.
“The San Francisco flag is a phoenix rising from the ashes, and Anchor has had many phoenix moments in its history,” said Mr. Singer. “But it’s out of our hands now,” he added. “We can only hope for the best.”