The iconic San Francisco brewery, Anchor Brewing Company, is to get a second lease of life thanks to a new ownership deal. The brand has been in trouble since its parent company Sapporo struggled during the pandemic, and production of the beloved craft beer was shuttered in a wave of craft beer bankruptcy filings. However, it has now been purchased by Hamdi Ulukaya of Chobani yogurt fame, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Anchor Brewing is one of the U.S.’s oldest craft beer breweries, best known for its flagship Anchor Steam Beer, which has been made since before 1900. However, Sapporo’s acquisition did not work out, with the company losing money and laying off the brewery’s workers. Now Ulukaya, founder and CEO of the Chobani yogurt company, wants to restore the brewery and start production again.
Ulukaya said he will have to get permits and paperwork in order before getting the brewery back into operation, but is hoping to do so very soon. “Let’s get back to work. Let’s bring it back to life. I don’t want to sit around,” he said to the Chronicle. “Wouldn’t it be amazing to get it going in time to make the Christmas ale this year? That would be awesome.”
Ulukaya is an experienced entrepreneur, the owner of the La Colombe coffee company as well as his yogurt empire; however, he doesn’t have experience in the brewing industry. So long-term fans of Anchor may be skeptical about his abilities to save the beer where others have failed and in a shrinking market for craft beer. But Ulukaya says he will be consulting with long-term employees of Anchor and that he has confidence that the heritage of the brand makes it worth saving.
