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n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m | J u n e 2 0 2 1 | n e w h a v e n B I Z 13 from Heineken USA, for instance, found that more than 61 percent of Millennials started drinking non-alcoholic beer during COVID to cut down on their alcohol intake, and 41% tried an alcohol-free beer for the first time. In a year when overall U.S. beer volume sales dropped 3 percent and cra beer volume sales decreased 9 percent, according to the national Brewers Association, the sale of all no- and low- alcohol beverages grew more than 30 percent in the U.S. in 2020 with the non- alcoholic beer segment alone growing by nearly 35 percent. While non-alcoholic beer accounts for less than 2 percent of the estimated $94 billion annual U.S. beer market, ISWR, which tracks global alcohol sales, forecasts the segment will achieve compound annual growth of 9.7% in America through 2024. Athletic Brewing is poised to capture its share of that growth. In fact, in its first three years, the company has gained about 10 percent of the overall U.S. non-alcoholic beer market, which includes macro brands like Heineken 0.0, but more than 50 percent of the non-alcoholic cra beer segment specifically, according to Shufelt. One factor aiding Athletic's growth has been the availability of non-alcoholic sales online, including Amazon, which was particularly helpful during the pandemic. e company's omnichannel e-commerce and shipping network allowed Athletic Brewing to sell nationwide, which has helped increase revenue by more than 500 percent each of the past two years. And it's not just consumers taking notice. Over the past two years, Athletic- manufactured beers, which include its flagship Upside Dawn Golden Ale and Run Wild IPA, have won critical-acclaim, taking home awards in the U.S. Open Beer championship, World Beer Awards, International Beer Challenge and last year, winning gold, silver, and bronze for its brews at the Best Cra Beer Awards. Not your typical beer at recognition does not surprise Phil Pappas, executive director of the Connecticut Brewers Guild (CBG), a trade association of the state's cra breweries. Despite the six-fold growth of cra breweries in Connecticut — from 21 in 2012 to more than 120 today — Athletic Brewing remains the state's only non- alcoholic brewery. "We're extremely proud of what [Athletic] has accomplished in such a short amount of time," Pappas said. He also noted that the process of creating non-alcoholic brews is different from typical beer and requires special equipment that can make production more costly. "It's almost like a different industry in some ways versus traditional beer," Shufelt said. It requires special food safety and processing equipment and because it doesn't have ethanol as a preservative, it requires a special pasteurization process. And Shufelt wants to make the science and business of brewing more widely known, especially among minorities and women who are largely underrepresented in the state's cra beer industry. So, Athletic Brewing Co. is funding a scholarship to support a new brewing science certificate program launched last year by the Connecticut Brewers Guild and Sacred Heart University. e goal of the flexible program, which can be completed in as few as 11 months, is to provide hands-on skills development to grow the workforce for the state's cra beer industry, which generated more than $753 million in economic activity in Connecticut last year, according to the CBG. Meantime the company is also building its brand footprint and partnerships with sporting events starting in 2021. Athletic Brewing is now the official non-alcoholic beer of the Spartan Race Series and is also partnering with the Premier Lacrosse League, Columbia University, Harvard and the University of Southern California. It's been a whirlwind four years for Shufelt and Walker who now oversee one of the fastest-growing breweries in the region and a growing market and consumer demand they are poised to meet. But for Shufelt, Athletic Brewing Co.'s success is about more than volume sales, athlete endorsements or brand- building. "I knew that by producing more moderate [beer] options, I could have a positive impact on people's health and lifestyle," he said. "at's what we're all about." n Connecticut's brewery industry Phil Pappas is the executive director of the Connecticut Brewers Guild. Stay current with the most important business news in Greater New Haven! Emailed to you on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons << SIGN UP TODAY >> GO TO NEWHAVENBIZ.COM/ENEWSLETTERS

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