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(Jamie Floyd: Courtesy Ninkasi Brewing)
We still don’t have the particulars on what led to the Ninkasi and Legacy Breweries separation beyond the polite press release wishing everyone the best. But something went down.
Here’s some history…
In 2019 Eugene, Oregon-based Ninkasi Brewing, the 35th biggest craft brewer in the nation at that time, announced that it had “partnered” (Read: sold a majority interest) to Legacy Breweries, a new startup that was looking to build a family of breweries that would benefit from shared efficiencies similar to the Canarchy Brewery Collective model.
Ninkasi, which had grown exponentially over the last decade, had banked on continuing growth, built up and built out, only to see sales slow thanks to increased competition.
We were kinda of bummed when we learned that the brewery, which was founded by Jamie Floyd and Nikos Ridge in 2006, would no longer be as independent as it once had been, but obviously there were real financial concerns that led to this new “arrangement.”
One of those “concerns” was that Ninkasi had planned on growing its brewing campus considerably and had purchased an adjoining block of property next to its production facility and became overleveraged as its sales slowed.
This is a bit speculative on our part. When we ran into Jamie at the 2019 Craft Brewers Conference he painted the new partnership in a positive light, but we sensed that deep down it wasn’t a move that he and Nikos would have made if they absolutely didn’t have to.
Again we’re shooting a little from the hip here. But the New School and the Washington Beer Blog, both excellent Pacific Northwest beer publications, have posted detailed articles that at least partially affirm our suspicions.
This from Ninkasi’s May 14th separation announcement…
“After working together for about a year, Ninkasi Brewing and Legacy Breweries signed a separation agreement so they can focus on each company’s strategic imperatives. This separation was effective in 2020 and will allow both companies to build on their core competencies.”
Last Friday’s announcement continues…
“Over the time they were working together, Ninkasi and Legacy were able to create considerable synergies against brand innovation, raw materials and supply chain improvements, as well as development of a premier Trade Development team and secure long-term major production contract to fill capacity.”
Legacy Breweries CEO, Don Bryant also chimed in…
“Ninkasi is positioned for significant success going forward, but this separation agreement will allow Legacy to focus on its other assets as well as drive further investment and resources against a major national initiative we will be launching in the next few months. The time spent working with Ninkasi has led to tremendous improvements within both Ninkasi and Legacy and positioned both companies for success in 2021 and beyond.”
Bottom line, Ninkasi Brewing is truly “independent” again.
Jaime Floyd and Nikos Ridge have regained control of the company they built, and along with CEO Nigel Francisco, we suspect that they hope to keep things that way for a long time.
