When you think of ginger beer, what do you envision? That spicy mixer you might pour into a Moscow Mule, certainly. Jackworth Ginger Beer is a Pittsburgh brewery that is challenging preconceptions about the beverage through their naturally fermented alcoholic and non-alcoholic ginger beers. Not only are they the first ginger beer brewery in Pennsylvania, but they’re one of very few alcoholic ginger beer breweries in the entire nation.
Jackworth Ginger Beer ran a Honeycomb Credit investment campaign in May 2024, and raised their maximum goal of $35,000 from 54 investors. This investment was used to purchase a new canning line so the brewery could more efficiently package their ginger beer.
Jackworth Ginger Beer was already selling their product out of their taproom and brewery, and now with the canning line the obvious next step was to begin finding distribution partners in the area who would be willing to stock their shelves or bars with ginger beer. Co-founders Tyler Lewis and Jackworth Smith started with around 7 to 10 distribution partners to start, and that number has blossomed to 25 partners and counting.
Tyler took some time to sit down with us and tell us his story of how he’s grown his local distribution network. Read on to find what our takeaways were, and see if any of Jackworth Ginger Beer’s experience can be of use on your business’s distribution journey!
Takeaway 1: You probably already have distribution partners in your back pocket.
For Tyler, a lot of the partners that Jackworth Ginger Beer is working with currently are businesses and individuals he’s already connected to.
“The food and beverage industry is a very tight knit industry in general. I come from a bartending background and also managed restaurants here in Pittsburgh,” he says. “A lot of the people who are in the brewing industry come from bartending backgrounds, and have bartended at various different well-known bars in the area. We're all kind of interconnected in some way, all at least two degrees of separation away from each other. So there's always some sort of common ground.”
“Really, if we're talking brewery to brewery, a lot of it is sharing notes because we're all doing the same thing, we’re all in the industry together. When I talk specifically with beer breweries, those conversations are really talking about how our products can add value to their bar offerings in their tap room, or in their tasting room. Because our product is a gluten-free product, we can add a unique option to their beer lineup.”
Takeaway 2: Your product can benefit your distribution partners - tell them how.
No matter what your product is, you want to make sure that you are building a mutually beneficial relationship with your partner. Part of this is making it clear how your product can not only add to the other products they sell, but enhance them.
“When we're talking to bars or restaurants, those conversations are usually going to be more tailored to talking about how ginger beer can fit in with their culinary or their bar program and each conversation is different,” says Tyler. “If I know somebody already going in, I can talk to some of the experiences that I've had with that person, knowing some of their likes or the types of cocktails that they make or knowing a little bit about the cuisine going into a restaurant. I could talk about how our ginger beer pairs with some specific dishes, or I can talk about how our ginger beer is different from some of the other items on their menu.”
Being able to clearly detail what sets your product apart from others is crucial - at both a micro level and a macro level. Tyler makes a point to note how Jackworth Ginger Beer is unique from behind the bar to across the country.
“A big talking point that we always emphasize is what's unique about our product. Number one, we're Pennsylvania's first ginger beer brewery. Number two, it's one of the only alcoholic ginger beer breweries in the United States. Number three, we could talk a little bit more about being a gluten-free option for people, apart from seltzers and ciders. And number four, we could talk a little bit more about some of our non-alcoholic ginger beers elevating some of the cocktails in cocktail programs as well.”
Takeaway 3: Make sure your distribution partners know your product and your story.
“Early on and even now we're looking to partner with people who strategically can talk to our product and talk about it in a way that we think is beneficial to our brand,” says Tyler. “We hold our brand in very high regard because we're creating a new segment with the alcoholic ginger beer. So, we look to partner with people who we think exemplify what our brand represents. And we look to partner with people who would represent our brand in the way that we think it should be represented.”
This goes not only for businesses that sell highly unique products such as Jackworth Ginger Beer, but for all kinds of businesses. This is why it’s important to meet with your partners and help them to understand your product and your story. Knowing the story and the selling points of your product helps both you and the partner sell to the end customer.
Aside from that, Tyler says, “I think we've been fairly experimental in the types of different places we've been distributing our product. We're in places that are fairly high-end restaurants as well as in some more dive-ier bars. We’re also in cafes that are only open till three o'clock and only really serve coffee; they want a soda option so they carry our non-alcoholic ginger beer.”
“All the different accounts that we have are unique and different, and because of that we’ve been able to gather data on how our products do at each place, and we find that they all serve a purpose in terms of how they represent our products.”
“We're a company that prides ourselves on building community and building connections. Every partner that we have, and I say, partner for a reason, is a true partner. Nothing is a transaction,” says Tyler.
“We're always excited to get an account and have our product in a new place, but at the end of the day there's a true partnership that goes into any of the accounts that we have, whether it's working with bars on incorporating Jackworth Ginger Beer into their cocktail programs or behind their bar. In turn, we bring their beer into our bar because we also have a full bar and our tasting room. Building these relationships goes really a long way in Pittsburgh and it's recognized.”
Takeaway 4: How you set up your business plan matters
Now, there have been some challenges for Jackworth Ginger Beer when it comes to finding their stride in local distribution.
“Pittsburgh is a beer city, and bringing ginger beer to a beer city is a challenge in itself,” says Tyler.
For example, in some of the beer stores where Jackworth Ginger Beer is stocked, there might be some confusion at first on where to place it. Does it go with the beer? The ciders? The seltzers? As a truly novel product, the first challenge is categorizing it. That’s where working with partners directly and educating them has helped Jackworth Ginger Beer in their distribution strategy.
“We know that we have to curate Our product, and our product experience in a way that educates the person on the other side who's drinking it,” says Tyler.
“When we were building our business plan and deciding how we're gonna do distribution,” he says. “There were one of two ways that we could have done this. We could have done contract brewing, which is us building a formula and sending it off to a packer for them to brew a lot of our products, sending us pallets of our product and us distributing it.”
“Or, we build a brewery, which is what we did, and we built a space where we can have our own tasting room and have a space where we can talk about the product and interact with people, tell them about ginger beer, educate them about ginger beer. We decided to do this because we are introducing a unique product to the world”
This decision blends itself naturally with all the community events that Jackworth Ginger Beer hosts and all the connections that they’ve intentionally built with restaurant and bar programs across the city.
Takeaway 5: Growth in distribution takes hard work, but is worth it
While Jackworth has grown immensely in the context of the greater Pittsburgh area, they have their sights set on becoming the premier ginger beer brand across the nation. In these early stages, there have been some challenges that they have overcome through determination and hard work.
“Obviously, as a self distributed product, we have had to spread ourselves a little bit thinner, the more accounts that we have,” notes Tyler. “At the same time, we don't want to lose the thing that makes Jackworth Ginger Beer, which is the personal touch that we bring. We see ourselves as a very personal brand, very approachable. So, it just means longer hours, longer days, but it's completely worth it.”
The next year is going to bring more growth for Jackworth Ginger Beer, as they expand their distribution throughout the region. “Just as seltzer proliferated in the way that it did over the past five to six years, and the way that cider did about 10 years ago, we believe that alcoholic ginger beers are the next big thing.”
Takeaway 6: Don’t be afraid to bring your distribution partners home
One of the most compelling parts of Jackworth Ginger Beer’s distribution strategy has been that because they’ve been working primarily with different local vendors in Pittsburgh, there have been many opportunities for collaboration.
First, many different local bars, breweries, and restaurants have been serving up Jackworth Ginger Beer in their locations. Margaux (a Honeycomb staff favorite) serves a Jackworth Ginger Beer matcha tonic, Square Cafe (a two-time Honeycomb alum) serves a Jackworth Ginger Beer mimosa, and Grist House Craft Brewery has a Jackworth Ginger Beer French 75.
“The breadth at which our product is being used is really crazy. It just shows the versatility of ginger beer and just the versatility of ginger in general,” muses Tyler.
“We do a cool series here at the bar called Meet Your Maker, which is a guest bartending series where we invite somebody, usually for the most part who carries our product, to come in every other Sunday and guest bartend and come in and build their own concoctions. Sometimes they’ll make a cocktail with our ginger beer or just something that they've been working on. It's been really cool, a great way to build community, a great way to build connections, a great way for, again those people who are making really cool stuff at their bars, to bring it into our bar and show some of our regulars.”
For Tyler and Jackworth Ginger Beer, the partnerships that they have built along the way while building their distribution network have benefited their business far beyond just what they’re using to stock their shelves. Through these connections, they are strengthening the local beverage scene and getting their neighbors excited about their product - which will be all the more beneficial as Jackworth Ginger Beer expands across the country.
Community building and business building at the same time
Some of the most successful businesses that run Honeycomb investment campaigns are those that intentionally build connections with others, like Jackworth Ginger Beer does. As you’re scaling up your business, take a look at how community investment can help your business grow. Learn more by filling out the form below!
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