One Brewery’s Journey to Success with the IBA
Frank Kaszuba – Director of Brewery Operations for Earth Rider –
Tells How He Made the IBA Work for His Brewery
Earth Rider is a 4,200 Barrel Brewery founded in 2017 in Superior, Wisconsin
Should We? Shouldn’t We?
“I first heard about the Independent Brewers Alliance in 2019 from a friend at another brewery. I was immediately interested in the IBA’s main promises – saving money on
all kinds of things we’re already buying and being part of a group of breweries working together to help each other out.
But I think like a lot of brewers first hearing about the IBA, I asked myself, “What’s the catch?”
Taking a Second Look
So, I let the idea of joining slide until sometime in 2022 when the IBA came up again. This time I decided to vet it more carefully. I talked with Laurie Jeffries, the IBA’s Director of Recruitment. The fact that she’s a former brewer gave me some confidence as well as everything she told me. So we decided to dip our toe in the water and join for free as an “Affiliate Member,” signing up for the can carton savings programs with the IBA’s packaging supplier.
About the same time, during CBC 2023 in Nashville, I went to an IBA event at one of their member breweries. There I met Laurie and the other IBA team members, and had a chance to network with other member brewers and IBA suppliers. It all gave me a good feeling, so we decided to go deeper, signing up for additional savings programs where we could do breakeven or better vs. what we were currently paying.
Jumping In and Signing Up for Savings Programs
So, at this point we’re buying cartons, cans, labels and freight through IBA programs. It’s all working great – smooth transitions, good pricing and great service. And I want to highlight the freight program in particular. In the past I always got competitive quotes on shipments. That’s a lot of work. After getting a number of them from the IBA’s freight partner, all way less than others, I stopped getting quotes all together, saving me valuable time as well as money.
Now, Here’s Where the Story Takes a Detour.
You can try the IBA out for free as an Affiliate Member. Just, what we did. But like everything these days, there’s a paid upgrade. For the IBA, this is “Member-Ownership.” Here you actually become an owner, buying a $1,000 share in the IBA and paying annual dues of $2,500 a year plus $.05 for every barrel produced the previous year.
So why do this? Well, as a Member-Owner you get better pricing on some programs. But you also participate in the IBA’s profit sharing program. This is funded by the volume rebates offered by suppliers on most of the IBA’s over 70 savings programs. These are used in part to fund the IBA’s operations. The remainder – which is growing every year – is shared with Member-Owners. So as an Affiliate, you’re saving money. As a Member-Owner you’re saving money and getting your piece of the profit-sharing.
Matt Hopkins, the IBA’s Executive Director, had explained this upfront. So, I knew that at some point the cost of being a Member-Owner could be more than made up for by the additional savings and profit sharing opportunities we’d get. In fact, he pointed out that Earth Rider could cross that threshold just by buying three truckloads of cans a year through the IBA’s can program.
And that’s just what happened. By 2023, the math was undeniable. We signed up as a full-fledged Member-Owner. We got a substantial profit-sharing check at year end – and have hopes for an even bigger one at year-end 2024.
No Catch – The IBA is as Good as It Sounds
To finish I’d like to say this. Yeah, the IBA may sound too good to be true. How can it be so easy to get that kind of buying power for nothing? But if you put in the work to switch suppliers, it’s very real. We took the chance, and it’s worked out phenomenally well. It’s also exciting to be able to network with fellow breweries and be part of something that’s big and getting bigger.
While every brewery might not follow our trajectory, it’s worth your time to learn more and see where your brewery might be able to save money. They’re completely transparent about how it all works. Check it out.”