Dogfish Head Hires New President

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery announced this morning that they’re adding a man to the management: George Pastrana.

Who is that, you ask?  Good question.  George Pastrana is an unknown in the craft beer world.  Having spent the last six years working for ACH Food Companies, manufacturers of consumer packaged goods like butter, pancake syrup, baking oil and the like, George would seem like an unusual move for a craft brewery.  But Dogfish Head is not just any craft brewery – they are one of the originals.  CEO and founder Sam Calagione is among the founding voices of the Brewers Association, and his brewery has been a pioneer in inventing beer styles and other innovations (think fruit infusions in IPAs) that the larger industry now almost takes for granted.  So where do they go from here?

If you’re a brewery like Dogfish Head, it’s probably about time to start looking outside the often insular craft beer industry to find new inspiration and chart new directions for your now mature business.  From that perspective, George sounds like a great pick.  He has experience in a part of the food industry that creates basic consumer goods.  Those goods are staples in both grocery stores and the food service industry alike.  George also comes with various levels of degrees in both Marketing and Biomedical Engineering.  So while George may not have worked in beer directly, it’s no surprise that Dogfish Head’s 12-month search for new leadership would result in the hiring of someone with his background.  He appears to have the right mix of food chemistry knowledge and marketing prowess that will help push Dogfish forward in the increasingly competitive beer market.

And we won’t be surprised when this type of hiring choice is just another trend in the beer industry with Dogfish Head at the front end.

For more details from Dogfish Head directly, click here.