It's hard not to see B. Nektar Meadery's
blue bottles on grocery store shelves in Metro Detroit, but the craft
brewer has expanded way beyond Michigan to the eastern half of the U.S.
and it has plans to go even further this year.
The Ferndale-based
maker of fine honey wines doubled its production in 2010 and expects to
do so again this year. That allowed the company to hire two people last
year, and it's looking to add one more now and a few others later this
year.
"We have been expanding outward into other states," says Brad Dahlhofer, co-founder of B. Nektar Meadery. "Last year was a big expansion year for us. We're in nine states right now, including Michigan."
They
include Wisconsin, Maine, and Florida, and a number of other East Coast
states. The company also plans to keep that North American expansion
going, along with going international. Plans are in the works to open
markets in Asia, Africa, and Europe.
That's a big leap for a
company that seriously began production in August of 2008. Dahlhofer and
his wife Keri, longtime home brewers of meade, began making their
version of the oldest alcoholic beverage known to man in 1,500 square
feet on Jarvis Street.
"We knew this was what we wanted to do,"
Dahlhofer says. "It's nice that people responded so well. It makes the
job of expanding easier."
Source: Brad Dahlhofer, co-founder of B. Nektar Meadery
Writer: Jon Zemke
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