“I think in order to be successful, you have to really seize the reigns; you have to be very purposeful about what you want to get done, and you have to set those objectives and go after them very, very aggressively,” said Boston Beer Company President and CEO Dave Burwick at the Distinguished Leaders Lecture Series event on Tuesday, December 4.
Burwick is no stranger to ‘seizing the reigns’ and creating his own future in the food and beverage industry.
Prior to taking on his current roles, Burwick served on the Boston Beer Company’s board. He has also served as CEO and President of Peet’s Coffee and President of North America for Weight Watchers. He also worked at PepsiCo., where he took on multiple leadership roles during his 20-year tenure, including CMO of Pepsi-Cola North America.
In 1984, Founder and Brewer Jim Koch started the Boston Beer Company. The company is most widely known for their original beer, Samuel Adams Boston Lager, which is a nod to one of America’s founding fathers. Today, the company has more than 60 variations of Samuel Adams beer and have added other products to their repertoire.
“People are not drinking as much as they were before. Basically, one in four people are drinking less alcohol than they did before. Millennials are really driving that. (There are) a lot of reasons why. One is health and wellness. One is because of social media. People do not want to be seen on social media out of control,” said Burwick.
Burwick and the Boston Beer Company know that in order to keep up with the times, they have to make modifications to meet their customers’ desires.
“People are drinking differently. People are looking for experiences,” said Burwick. “There are a lot of local brewers here. You go to Wynwood. You see a lot of brewers in Wynwood, and they offer a great experience. The brand is much as about the experience as it is the actual product itself.”
The event concluded with a reception that served light hor d'oeuvres and samplings of Boston Beer Company products.
To view the entire Distinguished Leaders Lecture Series event with Dave Burwick, click here.
To view the full schedule of Distinguished Leaders Lecture Series events, click here.
