If you’re a craft brand in need of distribution, it’s important to align yourself with a partner who understands you and your product, who is committed, and who has the resources at-hand to help you reach your sales goals.
If you are an individual looking for a craft beer job that will help you gain the experience needed to establish a solid career moving forward, it is important to find an employer early on in your career that is committed to giving you an opportunity to both learn and grow.
Luckily for both brands and job seekers in Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Beverage Alliance fits the bill on all those fronts.
The Massachusetts Beverage Alliance (MBA), which is a network of craft beverage distributors, has a vision is to be the premier Craft and Speciality Import Beer distributor network in the nation. The MBA is doing well towards seeing that vision through.
Sales at MBA have skyrocketed in recent years, and their portfolio continues to grow. Currently, there are 21 craft beer and cider brands, many of which are regional, represented by the Massachusetts Beverage Alliance. In late 2014, the MBA also brought on its first craft distiller, Maine Craft Distilling. Check out the MBA portfolio here.
Craft and specialty import beer already represents a 17.33 share in the Massachusetts beverage market, and with a growing arsenal of craft savvy personnel that share will no doubt rise. The following is a list of dedicated resources the MBA brings to the Massachusetts craft beverage market:
- Craft / Specialty Personnel: 16
- Street-Level Personnel: 129
- In-House Sales Management / Support: 28
- Merchandisers: 43
- Dedicated Draught Techs: 8
- Graphic Arts Department Personnel: 12
- Delivery Trucks: 171
- Refrigerated Storage: 65,748 S.F.
- Cicerone Beer Servers: 143 and counting
Craft Beer Job: Craft Development Representative
If you are someone passionate about craft beer, who has some sales experience perhaps from retail or from an on-premise establishment, but who is really looking for a role they can evolve with, then the MBA may have a great opportunity waiting for you.
The Craft Development Representative is a sort of hybrid position; while you are working for a distributor and a part of the sales team, the role also has aspects of what you would expect to find on the “supplier” side of things (at a brewery) in the form of a “brand ambassador”. As MBA’s Craft Development Representative, your responsibility is to be a craft beer enthusiast out in the market for retailers and consumer. In short, you would be “inspiring sales”.
For the full job description and link to apply for this position, click here: Craft Development Representative
A summary of the full description is below:
Responsibilities
- Work to help activate supplier programming at distributor and retail level
- Execute sales strategies to help obtain distribution and volume goals developed by partner distributors and suppliers
- Cultivate relationships with distributor partners to gain share of mind, and with supplier partners to set a standard for the market
- Develop accounts craft knowledge with the goal of fitting into distributor’s craft centric universes and maintain specified account frequency goal
- Communicate all new brewery and brand initiatives to retailers
- Assist distributor craft divisions on selling craft beer to retail, developing techniques, identifying opportunities, and resonating the culture of MBA breweries to the market
- Assist distributor craft divisions and retailers on all things craft beer including beer ingredients, brewing processes, beer styles, beer history, breweries, and competition
- Help execute key tastings, wait staff trainings, promotions, and beer dinners at retail level
- Willingness to travel – including to GABF, CBC, Savor, Brewery Visits across US and International
Skills, Experience & Qualifications
- Previous sales in beer or beverage industry (retail, restaurant, tap rooms, etc)
- Excellent time management and organizational skills
- Confident and willing to question conventional wisdom
- A creative thinker – flexible to spearhead independent projects
- Cicerone Beer Server Certification
- Social Media savvy
- Valid/Clean Driver’s License
- Ability to consume responsibly
- Willingness to work unconventional hours.
The Craft Development Representative is an incredible opportunity for someone who is passionate about craft beer and who wants to gain critical experience for a successful career in craft beer. To learn more and to apply, visit the job description: Craft Development Representative.