Black-Owned Brewing Co. Opens Up Underserved Market

What resulted from the collaboration became Chicago’s Moor’s Brewing Co., with a tagline reading as follows: Less than 1% of the craft brewing industry is African American-owned. We are Chicago’s Black Owned craft brewing company, established Juneteenth 2021.

The name and marketing are built on a historical king. In 711 A.D., King Caspar led Moors of Berber decent across the strait of Gibraltar between Africa and Europe—conquering Spain for the next 700 years. They introduced new scientific techniques to the European culture, including a distillation and fermentation process that produced what they called al-kuhl. This beer pays homage to the rich untold history of its African ancestry and the original craft brewers.

The social moment of 2021 was a cauldron of change that helped accelerate things for the brand.

“At the height of COVID-19 and civic unrest following the George Floyd incident, more focus was being placed on diversity and inclusion,” Johnson says. “The craft beer industry presented a great opportunity for diversity from both the supplier and consumer perspectives.”

Packaging and imagery

There has been much discussion around brands retiring racially charged mascots. Whether Uncle Ben or Aunt Jemimah, a common theme of these mascots has been their polite, respectful subservience as servants, cooks, or housekeepers.

Moor’s Brewing Co.’s 16-oz. brightstock cans, on the other hand, use a pressure-sensitive label depicting King Ziyad, a black man who was a conqueror and deliverer of science innovation, a far cry from the subservient, conquered mascot. The can art comes from the 16th century Dutch painter Hendrik Heerschop’s “The African King Caspar.” Moor’s added the post-modern hip hop flare to make the image their own.

“In light of social injustice, we wanted to remind the community of its rich regal history; a time when people of color were kings and queens,” Johnson says. “We wanted our brand to represent black excellence and original craftsmanship; paying homage to the Africans that civilized Europe via spirits, infusing our post-modern artistry.

“Our target market is brand loyal, and I felt that we needed to be brand forward, using a name, imagery, and messaging that resonated with our target market, expanding the space,” he adds. “Creating a badge brand of beers that satisfies a discerning palate, hence Moor’s Beer. Most breweries are into making a lot of different beers, which is appealing to the beer enthusiast community. However, to bring more African Americans into the fold, we wanted to use a different approach; thus, leaning into the culture.”

Adds Patton: “I just had never seen a Black man exhibited regally on a can of beer. That was something that was important to us to make sure that that messaging came across, especially in a time where you’re seeing a lot more attention paid to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

Juneteenth product launch

Junteenth 2021, the June 19th holiday that celebrates the freedom of enslaved people in the U.S. at the end of the Civil War, was a no-brainer for a product launch. But the idea had only really come together in January, so launching in such a tight window was difficult.

“As you can imagine, we faced many challenges just to make it to market on that day; from last-minute changes to inbound delivery issues to distribution,” Johnson says. “But we knew that launching that day would be instrumental and ironically that day was made a national holiday. Fortunately, we were able to be in stores on that day despite all challenges.”

The duo was able to thread the needle with the help of a fellow black-owned business, who acted as a co-manufacturer and co-packer for the brewery.

“We just put our heads down and worked with Drew Fox over at 18th Street Brewing [in nearby Hammond, Indiana],” Patton adds. “The marketing all was tailored to make sure that we all had a Juneteenth mindset, that we could actually make that date, but it’d been on the board since January of 2021, or even before then.”

The partnership with 18th Street was a useful first step, and allowed the brewery to make a splash and grand entrance on a holiday amid a growing social movement. Next up for Moor’s Brewing Co. will be a state-of-the-art production facility, likely including taproom. Details are being kept quiet at the moment, but expect news within the next year to 18 months.

Also important to remember, while Moor’s is a black-owned brewery, and while it is taking square aim at an untapped, underserved African American beer drinkers market, it’s by no means meant to be exclusive to that community. Exclusivity is neither the goal in the larger social sense, nor in the practical sales volume sense.

“We started looking into the numbers, and we noticed that only 3% of beer buyers happen to be African American. We told ourselves, ‘OK, well we’ll just take that niche.’ Then we started realizing you need more than just that niche to be a profitable entity, so we folded everybody in again,” Patton says. “The genesis of it was just noticing that the numbers were really skewed in the other direction. It’s like less than 1% of the craft beer industry is African American-owned. That right there was when we said to ourselves, ‘Oh, dude, we got a crack at this. This is our Jackie Robinson moment.’”