A familiar northern Minnesota brewery is about to get a bigger audience across the state. Fulton Brewing announced it is partnering with Bemidji Brewing and launching True North Beverage, a new Minnesota-based beverage collective designed to help local brands get themselves out there while keeping their individual charm intact. The deal takes effect Oct. 31 and builds on an existing three-year-long partnership between the two breweries.
Since opening in downtown Bemidji in 2012, Bemidji Brewing has built a following around classic beers and its connection to the northern Minnesota community. But as demand grew, the brewery’s limited production space made it harder to grow and keep up. That’s where Fulton Brewing came in. Through their existing partnership, Fulton has helped produce Bemidji Brewing’s beer, allowing the brewery to increase volume and reach places that were used to be difficult to serve. Over the past few years, that has included Duluth, the North Shore, and more recently, the Twin Cities.
Joining True North Beverage will give Bemidji Brewing even more access to production, sales, marketing, and distribution. Not much is changing for fans in Bemidji, though. The brewery’s downtown taproom will remain open, and its founders will continue to be involved in the brand. “When we started Bemidji Brewing, our goal wasn’t simply to make great beer. It was to build something our community could be proud of,” says Justin “Bud” Kaney, co-founder and president of Bemidji Brewing in a prepared statement.
True North Beverage is essentially a shared-resource model for Minnesota beverage brands. Along with Bemidji Brewing and Fulton Brewing, it also includes FINNEGANS and NºRC Sparkling THC Waters. Rather than asking each brand to build its own production facilities and sales teams, the collaboration will allow companies to simply share resources behind the scenes. The idea is that brands can put more energy into their products while True North handles the logistics of growing a business.
Ryan Petz, CEO of Fulton Brewing and True North Beverage, says the goal isn’t to make the brands feel like one big company. “This isn’t about reinventing beloved brands,” he says in a recent press release. “It’s about pairing strong brands with the infrastructure they need to reach their potential.” For Bemidji Brewing, that could mean more cans and bottles showing up on shelves around Minnesota without requiring the brewery to make an investment in a larger facility of their own.
The collective says future partnerships could follow a similar model, bringing other Minnesota beverage producers into the light while allowing them to maintain their own characteristics, voices, and relationships with customers. For Bemidji Brewing, the immediate takeaway is simple: the brewery is getting a chance to reach more Minnesota drinkers without leaving Bemidji behind. Learn more about the brand collaboration at truenorthbeverage.com.
