US – Bishop Cider, one of the leading beverage companies in the United States, has acquired two brewing facilities and secured properties for new entertainment concepts to support the growth of its beverage co-packing business.
One of the facilities belonged to Wild Acre Brewing in Fort Worth and the other was the asset of Arlington-based Legal Draft Beer Co.
With the acquisition, TexBev, a beverage co-packing company owned by Bishop Cider, will relocate operations from Dallas to Wild Acre’s Fort Worth facility.
TexBev will also expand its capacity and capabilities with the addition of the equipment from Bishop’s Dallas cidery and Legal Draft’s Arlington brewery
The Fort Worth facility comprises nearly 200,000 square feet of warehouse space and sits on 21 acres, providing enough space to continually expand.
Wild Acre beer will continue to be produced at the facility, but the brand will be getting a refresh, investments will be made in Quality Assurance (QA)/Quality Control (QC) equipment, and recipes will be fine-tuned.
Joel Malone, CEO of Bishop Cider, said: “Rightfully so, Wild Acre has gained a lot of respect in Fort Worth. They have built a very impressive facility and the beer can hold its own against other local breweries, but I believe there is potential to compete on a larger stage.”
Bishop Cider has also begun construction of a new location of its Cidercade concept in Fort Worth, which will be the largest to date and is expected to open by the end of the year, in an effort to bolster its sales.
Bishop has averaged over 100% revenue growth YOY, sustained profitability even in 2020 when entertainment venues were closed due to the pandemic and welcomed nearly one million customers through Cidercade locations in 2021, according to the company.
It will be the largest Cidercade to date at 25,000 square feet and is bringing the total number of Bishop’s locations to seven.
Bishop Cider has also said Grant Wood is among the newly appointed management team who will spearhead its production line to ensure the liquid is among the best in the world.
Grant spent 16 years at Boston Beer Company, finishing as the senior brewing manager, and recently he was the co-founder and brewmaster of Revolver Brewing prior to the acquisition by Molson Coors in 2016.
Once the new locations are operational, Bishop Cider will have over 300,000 square feet of real estate, have seven on-premise locations, and employ approximately 265 employees (currently 140).
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