From Beer to Better-For-You: How Octopi Brewing Is Adapting to a Shifting Beverage Industry

About this episode

Mitch Wedemeier discusses Octopi Brewing's strategic adaptation in the beverage industry post-acquisition by Asahi.

In this Brewbound Podcast Interview , Justin Kendall sits down with Mitch Wedemeier, Director of Planning at Octopi Brewing, live from the Brew Expo floor at the Craft Brewers Conference. Now just over two years into its acquisition by Asahi (January 2024), Octopi has refined its strategic vision under the leadership of Paul Verdu. The company is pursuing two parallel paths: continuing as a best-in-class mid-range co-packer while also growing the Asahi Super Dry brand in the U.S. market. Mitch shares that Octopi's co-packing business is currently a 50/50 split between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, with strong demand for non-alcoholic beer (using their award-winning membrane filtration process) and rapidly growing categories like healthy sodas, prebiotics, protein sodas, and mocktails. On the format side, he's seeing real momentum in 19.2 oz single-serve cans, variety packs, and the emerging 7.5 oz "mini" can format, which Octopi is adding to its line by mid-summer. Rather than chasing volume with dozens of clients, the team is focused on partnering with 10–20 brands in the ~15,000-barrel range that have meaningful growth potential. CPG founders interested in co-packing…

People in this episode

Host: Justin Kendall

Guest: Mitch Wedemeier

Topics covered

• beverage industry
• co-packing
• non-alcoholic beverages
• craft beer
• business strategy

Keywords

• Octopi Brewing
• Asahi
• co-packing
• non-alcoholic beer
• Craft Brewers Conference

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Octopi Brewing, Asahi, AsahiBeerUSA.com, Craft Brewers Conference

Products: Asahi Super Dry, non-alcoholic beer, healthy sodas, prebiotics, protein sodas, mocktails, 19.2 oz single-serve cans, variety packs, 7.5 oz "mini" can

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