Springfield-based Mother’s Brewing Company is now serving its beer in northwest Arkansas. As KSMU’s Scott Harvey reports, Monday’s announcement comes amid a series of events planned this week to help kick start the campaign.
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The company believes they can sell between 3,000-5,000 barrels over the next few years in the region. That includes the cities of Fayetteville, Springdale, Lowell, Rogers, Bentonville, Bella Vista and Eureka Springs.
Director of Sales and Marketing Jeremy Wicks says the decision to expand service to northwest Arkansas followed a thorough evaluation of the area, where officials interviewed local distributors.
“They’re giving us their sales projections – how much beer they think they can do in the first three months, the first six months, the first 12 months – and we match that up against what we believe we can sell during that same time frame. And then that, and then other factors, just as far as our feel for how well each distributor understands the brand, and how enthusiastic they are to push the brand into the market,” Wicks said.
Wicks adds that Mother’s will evaluate beer sales in a new region as often as weekly following a launch, watching for any new clients or more orders from existing clients. He’s optimistic that sales in the entire northwest Arkansas market will compare to that of Kansas City, and feels the new distribution area embodies characteristics similar to that of its largest market; southwest Missouri.
“They’re both in the Ozarks. There’s kind of a shared love and connection with the arts and music scenes, too. So it’s kind of a natural fit for us. It’s always someplace that we wanted to take the beer. We’ve had a lot of success in other college markets that we’ve moved into, too.”
Roughly 15 promotional events are planned by Mother’s in northwest Arkansas this week, including live music and tasting events.
The expanded service will not require additional staff, according to Wicks, who says Mothers is already equipped to handle the extra demand.
The independent craft brewery has been in operation in downtown Springfield since 2011. Mother’s was recently listed as the 7th fastest growing craft brewery in the country.