Within days of each other, O’Fallon Brewery and Pinckney Bend Distillery announced new contracts with importers in Italy and have sent their first shipments overseas.
In a recent press release, O’Fallon Brewery President and CEO Jim Gorczyca said the demand for craft beer goes far beyond the United States. “Distributors around the world are looking for American craft beer to bring to their markets,” he said. “It says a lot about the perception of St. Louis craft beers.”
O’Fallon Brewery expects to ship between 3,000 and 5,000 cases the year of its 5-Day IPA, Zeke’s Pale Ale, Wheach and Smoked Porter, among others, to F&G Compagnia Di Commercio, an Italian wholesaler. The first shipment departed in late May.
The international interest in American-made craft beverages does not stop at beer, either, according to Pinckney Bend president and CEO Jerome Meyer. “Interest in American craft distilled spirits continues to grow in both Asia and Europe,” Meyer said in a press release. The high placement of Missouri spirits in competition has added to their prominence; Pinckney Bend’s vice president of marketing and sales Ralph Haynes said Italian importers first contacted the distillery in March after several of its products consistently won top honors at the San Francisco International Spirits Competition in the last three years.
Pinckney Bend already has export markets in Singapore and Australia, and this year, it began shipping cases of both its American gin and tonic syrup to northern Italy. The distillery’s supplier, based in Torino, Italy, has more than 50 distribution points throughout the country.
This article appears in June 2014.