Dive Brief:
- Boston Beer Co., producer of Samuel Adams beers, has named Frank Smalla, Kraft's former senior vice president for finance, as its new senior vice president for finance, effective Jan. 4.
- Smalla will have the CFO job next year, when current Boston Beer CFO William Urich retires.
- Smalla had been with Kraft for two decades and served in his latest position since 2012.
Dive Insight:
"Frank’s experience in managing the finances of a diverse array of business units for a respected food and beverage company will be a great addition to the Company’s leadership team. This is particularly important as our business continues to expand and becomes more complex," Boston Beer president and CEO Martin Roper said in a statement.
Boston Beer was the second-largest U.S. craft brewery on the Brewers Association 2015 list, and as a craft brewery, though a large one, Boston could still be under pressure from recent moves by major brewers to enter the craft beer industry. Anheuser-Busch InBev just announced its sixth craft brewery acquisition, and MillerCoors, Heineken, and Constellation Brands have all announced craft acquisitions this year.
Craft brewers are also concerned about the looming AB InBev-SABMiller merger, which could create distribution and ingredient-sourcing headaches for craft brewers should the deal go through.