Annapurna Mead Co. Expands Distribution in Colorado

Annapurna Mead Co. in Colorado Springs, Colorado has signed a contract for statewide distribution with New Age Beverage. Full details are below.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.– Annapurna Mead Co., a Colorado-based meadery, has signed a contract for statewide distribution with New Age Beverage.

“We are excited by the partnership and believe that New Age Beverage’s history of working with growing brands aligns with our needs and goals.  Having built this market from the ground up, we are ready to expand and show Colorado what the #BeeyondSeltzer, #BeeyondBeer movement tastes like,” Annapurna Mead Co. founder Patrick Dobbins said in a local interview.

New Age Beverage, (NBEV), an industry leader in the NA/ functional beverage space has a growing and profitable alcohol distribution division.  After talks and tasting, the leadership team understood the concept and potential for the new, modern take on mead that Annapurna Mead Co. offers.

“Like the rise in hard seltzers and other “healthier-for-you” options, the all-natural, raw honey base that Annapurna uses is a perfect fit for us and our consumers.  Colorado is a discerning market and we think the drier, canned meads that Annapurna makes are going to be a natural choice for consumers concerned about their ingredients.  Beyond the delicious and award-winning meads, we were won over by the company vision and ethos that includes a bottom-up approach to sustainable support of honeybees and pollinators.  We think Annapurna will do very well in Colorado and beyond,” said Hans Schmidt, New Age Beverages alcohol division manager.

Like all innovative companies, Annapurna Mead Co., a recent 2019 Brewbound Live PitchSlam contestant, was started in a small garage in Colorado Springs, CO, in 2015.  After several years of beta-testing meads in local watering holes, founder Patrick Dobbins decided the time was right to introduce a modern, dry-style mead to a wider market.  Having built out a larger production facility that rolled out its first meads in 2018, Dobbins was forced to self-distribute as no distributor was willing to take a chance on the new style.

“Back in 2015, we always believed that the lower-calorie, drier-style, gluten-free market was ripe for innovation and entrance.  At the time my wife and her friends wanted something different than the sweet style ciders, which were the only available choices at the time.  Having been in both the wine and honey business, we knew that honey offered the perfect natural base to layer flavors over.  The rise of hard seltzers is confirmation of the vast untapped potential for this style drink.  We believe our take on modern mead is going to be the next level for those consumers.  Hard seltzer answers a demand but eventually the consumer will want to know what is in their drink and modified versions of corn-syrup and table sugars aren’t going to cut it.  Additionally, we believe nobody really wants a “hint” of flavor in their drink.  In the altered-states economy people want to have an experience, so we build our meads with full-flavor and all-natural ingredients fermented in,” said Patrick Dobbins.

The distribution partnership starts in March 2020, and should reach into the Colorado mountain towns by late spring.  The initial roll-out will include the three flagship flavors, Cherry Bee Dazzled, For the Love of Ginger, and Sauvage Mead Blanc.  A slate of on-premise offerings such as Blackberry Fig, Blueberry Raspberry and Orange Basil meads are planned as well.

In addition to supporting New Age Beverage’s sales and delivery teams, Annapurna Mead Co. has a full schedule of wine, beer and music festivals planned for 2020.

“As new kids on the block, our event lines are usually the longest and we make it fun by giving away wildflower seed packets and selling our popular trademarked, “Long Live The Bee,” merchandise.  2020 should be a break-out year for us and modern, canned meads,” said Dobbins.

For More Information: annapmead.com