Popular Wine Company Enters The Beer Biz

(Courtesy Montucky Cold Snacks / Gallo)

On May 15, Gallo, a leading supplier of wine, spirits and RTDs, announced it was getting into the beer biz through a strategic partnership with the founders of Montucky Cold Snacks.

Founded in 2012 by two young Montanans, Chad Zeitner and Jeremy Gregory, who wanted to create a business and product that they were passionate about, Montucky Cold Snacks is a 4.1% ABV American-Style Light Lager that is contact brewed in Wisconsin.

Montucky, which aligns itself with people who enjoy the great outdoors and deliberately prices itself to compete with other value-priced beers, like Pabst Blue Ribbon or Narragansett, has benefited at this time of inflation, with consumers more cautious about their expendable dollars.

Montucky Cold Snacks founders, Chad Zeitner and Jeremy Gregory

“Montucky has quickly become a Pabst Blue Ribbon alternative, but with more personality,” according to one of our favorite beer writers, Kate Bernot at Good Will Hunting, “and is being hailed as a “once-in-a-decade brand” for its distributors.”

And at a time when overall beer sales are slowing the brand has remained hot, and Gallo  evidently made Montucky Cold Snacks “an offer they couldn’t refuse.”

“Today’s consumer is shopping brands, flavors and occasions across beer, wine, spirits, and RTDs,” Ernest Gallo, CEO of Gallo, said. “At Gallo, we focus on serving the consumer and expanding the boundaries of what is expected.”

“With Gallo’s resources, core values, focus on consumer enjoyment and similar ethos for giving back to communities, sustainability, and the environment, we believe Gallo is the perfect partner to take Montucky where we have always thought it could go,” said Montucky co-founder, Chad Zeitner…”and help us do a whole lot of good along the way. We couldn’t be more excited to see where it goes from here.”

“Entering beer offers Gallo an exciting new opportunity to reach consumers in different usage occasions,”  Britt West, executive VP and general manager at Gallo, added, “and we look forward to collaborating and growing Montucky across the beer distributor network.”

“We believe core lager is a big category with room for fresh and innovative propositions. We are super excited that Chad and Jeremy have agreed to stay on and help Montucky reach its full potential.”

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(All image credits: Montucky Cold Snacks / Gallo)