When an investors group led by current
Sprecher president and chief executive officer
Sharad Chadha acquired the beverage manufacturer
in 2020, he entered the company with the hopes of making Sprecher a national – and possibly international – brand.
So far, it appears he’s close to achieving that goal. Sprecher recently announced that over the last three years, the brewery has experienced an average growth rate of 35% year-over-year (compounded annual growth rate). Sprecher is now available in 49 states and Chadha said its sales have nearly tripled.
“In total, over three years, we have experienced a 270% percent increase in distribution," he said. "We’re in more than 20,000 stores and have hundreds of new accounts and expanded accounts.”
To support Sprecher's exponential growth, the company has upgraded its bottle line and added a new canning line, as well as additional warehouse space. Chadha plans to introduce more automation into the brewing and batching process.
Sprecher’s number of employees has more than doubled to 120 people, and the company has gone from running less than one shift a week to running two shifts on four days of the week to meet demand.
Even with the company’s continued rapid expansion, Chadha believes the Sprecher brand is still just scratching the surface.
“Soda is a multi-billion-dollar market, and we are so little. 53% (annual growth) is absolutely possible,” he said. “We can continue this growth for several years.”
He’s still eyeing further expansion, both in the company’s number of sales and in its physical footprint.
The Sprecher headquarters campus in Glendale has three buildings, totaling about 250,000 square feet of space on about 10 acres land at 701 W. Glendale Ave. Chadha says he would like to build a 30,000- to 50,000-square-foot warehouse and production building that ties the three facilities together.
“It will take a massive amount of capital, millions of dollars, so we’ll do it as things ease up in terms of supply chain disruption or inflation or interest rates, which are crazy high for us right now,” he said. “We’re going to be thoughtful about it.”
To temporarily ease some of its physical constraints, the brewery recently leased 80,000 square feet of space along Capitol Drive and is eyeing another 75,000 square feet of space nearby. Chadha is constantly on the lookout for possible ways to expand Sprecher’s footprint.
“We’re looking at the multi-county area. If the economic development corporations of those regions are willing to give us a break, we are open to expansion in other areas,” said Chadha. “Glendale is our home and we love it here, but we want to expand much more.”
Another growth strategy for Sprecher is continually partnering with or acquiring smaller craft beverage manufacturers to help break into new markets. It recently acquired the soda brand Olde Brooklyn.
Being laser focused on sales and marketing will continue to be a hallmark of Chadha’s continued expansion goals. Sprecher’s latest distribution deal is with CVS, but the brewery’s products can be found at Walmart, Meijer, Costco, Target, Kroger, Albertson, Safeway, Dollar Tree and more.
“We want to have a Sprecher sip on every lip in America, and that means growing 30, 40% every year,” said Chadha. “That growth is not possible forever, but for the next few years, we have to do that. We are also keen on expanding distribution in new places.”
