Ten years ago, Joel VandenBrink was living in a 600-square-foot apartment, surrounded by brewing apparatus he'd acquired from Bob's Homebrew Supply in the U-District; his first project was a five gallon batch of Winter Warmer. He kept at it, though. Before long, he outgrew his first commercial space, and now occupies a 30,000-square-foot brewery called Two Beers in SoDo that sells tens of thousands of gallons of beer a year. Why "Two Beers"? Because, says VandenBrink, if you have a couple of beers with someone, you get to know them better. Two Beers was named the city's best craft brewery in 2014. It produces a quarter million gallons a year. It's the 13th largest brewery in the state.
Then (kind of like a married couple talking about their kids), Seattle Cider came along in 2013. It's a line of dry ciders that go very well with food, and a big hit with local chefs. Three year-round flavors (dry, semi-sweet, citrus), several seasonal offerings, all available at the cidery's facility off of East Marginal Way in SoDo called The Woods.
"It's been amazing, thrilling, scary and humbling all at the same time," VandenBrink writes. Hold that thought, because the next step is a doozy.
Meanwhile, in France, those colorful French dairy farmers in Normandy who make Camembert and butter and crème fraîche, they don't all make cheese on the farm. In fact, very few of them do. Most send their milk to large industrial companies like Lactalis and Danone with international marketing and distribution capabilities; you can buy Lactalis's Président Brie at Safeway. (Lactalis, a $20 billion company with 60,000 employees, concentrates on the dairy sector; it's owned by a Belgian family, the Besniers). Then there's Agrial, a cooperative with 12,000 members and 21 employees in a variety of agricultural sectors: animal feed, dairy, beverages, meat & poultry, vegetables. They're more spread out, but they do around $ 5 billion a year, with processing facilities concentrated in France (of course), but a footprint across Europe, Africa, and a toehold in North America. The first Agrial facility was established in California a decade ago to produce apple juice and cider under the Manzana label, and that's where we find the clue to this week's stunning news.
And here it is: young Joel VandenBrink announced that he's entering into an "equity partnership" with the Frenchies. VandenBrink will remain in place, the employees will keep their jobs, but both Two Beers and Seattle Cider will be folded into Agrial.
Cascadia Capital, an investment bank serving middle market clients globally, announced that it acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Seattle Cider Company and Two Beers Brewing.
This doesn't happen by accident. Cascadia Capital, an investment bank that serves so'called "middle market clients" around the world acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Seattle Cider and Two Beers Brewing on the merger. Worth looking into, I'd say, if you happen to have a growing little company and big ambitions. I mean, somebody has to be able to make the connections, right? Because it's unlikely that VandenBrink's neighborhood playmates in Holland, Michigan, were well-connected tycoons of international finance. Who made the first move? I don't have any inside information, but it's not much of a stretch that VandenBrink, on the hunt for an expansion partner (or sensing himself as vulnerable to a takeover bid), would have "lawyered up" once he sensed a nibble.
In any event, Jack Cowan, the honorary consul of France in Seattle, is pleased: "This is another win-win situation for France and the USA. Great example of the business expertise in the two countries combining to produce a company that is prepared to grow both domestically and internationally." Indeed. Two Beers gets access to expansion capital, Agrial gets access to North American markets. That's how the world works.
Wait, I forgot one important thing. This "Cascadia Capital" outfit in Kirkland, with its four white guys on the board of directors and a dozen white guys as managing directors, is controlled by yet another rich white guy. Very rich. No one in the country richer. Yup. Note: I was way off the mark here. Bill Gates is "Cascade Investments," not "Cascadia Capital."
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