Anup Surendran’s blog

Recently Brick Brewing of Waterloo, Ont., one of Canada's larger independent micro brewers, announced it had been sued by Anheuser-Busch and Labatt Brewing over Brick's new Red Baron Lime product.

Do you know why they were sued ?   They were sued for "Copycat marketing" according to Labatt's Vice-president of public affairs, Charlie Angelakos. Apparently their packaging and marketing for the Lime beer was too similar to Bud Light Lime. It's the second such suit Labatt has filed against Brick this year.

According to Brick's president and CEO, George Croft, he insists that Labatt's claims are without merit, that the suit is "a standard tactic used by large breweries worldwide to eradicate all competition" and that in the face of such powerful competition, "craft brewers are in the fight of their lives".

So what are the Microbrewers core strategy?

Even though the lawsuits like the one from Anheuser-Busch and Labatt are costly and distracting, they also play right into the core strategy of positioning themselves as plucky underdogs fighting multinationals for the right to offer beeer to consumers that is either better, cheaper or just plain different from mass market brews.

Is this working?

Ontario's craft brewery sales have grown 30% per year in provincially owned LCBO liguor stores over the past five years, and revenue via the mailn retail channel, the Beer Store, has increased too.

What are the other strategies Microbrewers employ?

Craft brewers are expanding their market share by riding the organic food and "buy local" trends. Provincial and federal subsidies help cushion the microbrewer's bottom lines as well.