skip to main content
Travelers Logo
  • About
  • Careers
  • Agents
  • Investors
  • Sustainability
  • Contact Us

Register now
Problems logging in?
  • For Individuals
    • Overview
    • Products
      • Car
      • Home
      • Renters
      • Condo
      • Landlord
      • Boat & Yacht
      • Travel
      • Pet
      • Weddings
      • Umbrella
      • All Products
    • Prepare & Prevent
      • Insurance 101
      • Home Central
      • Travelers Garage
      • Managing Through COVID-19
    • Affinity Group Discount
    • Online Service
    • Pay Your Bill
      • Get a Quote
      • Find an Agent
      • Report a Claim
      • Pay Your Bill
  • For Business
    • Overview
    • Products & Solutions
      • Overview
      • Boiler & Machinery
      • Commercial Auto & Trucking
      • Cyber
      • Environmental Liability
      • Excess Casualty & Umbrella
      • General Liability
      • Global Insurance
      • Inland Marine
      • Management & Professional Liability
      • National Programs
      • Ocean Marine
      • Property
      • Small Business Owner's Policy
      • Surety Bonds
      • Workers Compensation
        • Find an Agent
        • Report a Claim
        • Pay Your Bill
    • Industries
      • Overview
      • Agribusiness
      • Architects, Engineers & Surveyors
      • Auto & Truck Dealers
      • Business & Professional Services
      • Construction
      • Education
      • Energy & Renewable
      • Equipment Dealers
      • Financial Institutions
      • Food Services
      • Health & Related Services
      • Hospitality & Recreation
      • Manufacturing
      • Marine Industries
      • Museums & Fine Art
      • Non-Profit
      • Oil & Gas
      • Public Entities
      • Real Estate
      • Retail
      • Technology
      • Transportation
      • Wholesale & Distribution
        • Find an Agent
        • Report a Claim
        • Pay Your Bill
    • Services
      • Overview
      • Risk Control
      • Claim
      • Premium Audit
      • Online Customer Tools
      • Risk Management Information Services
      • Travelers Client Advantage
        • Find an Agent
        • Report a Claim
        • Pay Your Bill
    • Small Business
      • Overview
      • Automobile Insurance
      • Business Owner's Policy
      • Data Breach
      • Employment Practices Liability
      • Professional Insurance
      • Umbrella Insurance
      • Workers Compensation Inurance
        • Find an Agent
        • Report a Claim
        • Pay Your Bill
    • Large Business
      • Overview
      • Casualty
      • Cyber
      • Management & Professional Liability
      • Property
        • Find an Agent
        • Report a Claim
        • Pay Your Bill
    • Multinational Business
    • Prepare & Prevent
      • By Topic
      • By Industry
      • Navigating Your Business Through COVID-19
        • Find an Agent
        • Report a Claim
        • Pay Your Bill
      • Find an Agent
      • Report a Claim
      • Pay Your Bill
  • Claim Center
    • Claim Center
    • Should I File a Claim?
    • Report a Claim
    • Roadside Assistance
    • Find a Service Provider
    • Check Your Claim Status
    • Manage Your Claim Experience
      • Claim Reporting Next Steps
      • Claim Guide Library
      • Workers Compensation Resources
    • Claim Capabilities
      • Get a Quote
      • Find an Agent
      • Report a Claim
      • Pay Your Bill
  • Prepare & Prevent
    • For Individuals
    • Home Central
      • Buying & Selling
      • Home Maintenance
      • Home Renovation
      • Home Safety
      • Moving
      • Smart Home
    • Travelers Garage
      • Buying & Selling
      • Car Maintenance
      • Distracted Driving
      • Safe Driving
      • Teen Driving
      • Boating
    • Insurance 101
    • Weather
    • For Business
    • Industries
      • Construction
      • Manufacturing
      • Nonprofit
      • Small Business
      • Technology
    • Topics
      • Business Continuity
      • Cyber
      • Driver and Fleet Safety
      • Facilities Management
      • Internet of Things
      • Product and Services Liability
      • Supply Chain Management
      • Workplace Safety
    • Travelers Risk Index
      • Get a Quote
      • Find an Agent
      • Report a Claim
      • Pay Your Bill
  • About Travelers
    • Overview
      • Awards & Recognition
      • Careers
      • Community
      • Diversity & Inclusion
      • Sustainability
      • History
      • Investors
      • Media Resources
      • News
      • Travelers Championship
      • Travelers Institute
      • Get a Quote
      • Find an Agent
      • Report a Claim
      • Pay Your Bill
    • Get a Quote
    • Find an Agent
    • Report a Claim
    • Pay Your Bill
Main Navigation
  • For Individuals
      • Insurance for Individuals
      • Products
        • Car
        • Home
        • Renters
        • Condo
        • Landlord
        • Boat & Yacht
        • Travel
        • Pet
        • Weddings & Events
        • Umbrella
        • More
      • Prepare & Prevent
        • Insurance 101
        • Home Central
        • Travelers Garage
      • Affinity Group Discount
      • Online Service
      • Pay Your Bill
    • Get a home quote now

      It's easy to get a free quote for home insurance from Travelers in just a few minutes.

       

      Get a home quote now
  • For Business
      • Products & Solutions
        • Commercial Auto & Trucking
        • Cyber
        • General Liability
        • Management & Professional Liability
        • Property
        • Small Business Owner's Policy
        • Surety Bonds
        • Workers Compensation
        • More
      • Industries
        • Construction
        • Energy & Renewable
        • Financial Institutions
        • Healthcare
        • Manufacturing
        • Real Estate
        • Technology
        • Transportation
        • More
      • Prepare & Prevent
      • Services
        • Risk Control
        • Claim
        • Premium Audit
        • More
      • Pay Your Bill
      • Small Business
      • Large Business
      • Multinational Business
      • For Business Overview
    • Tips for Managing Risks Related to a Remote Workforce

      Tips for Managing Risks Related to a Remote Workforce

      With the current reality of more employees working from home through the pandemic, is your business ready for all the implications?

      Learn more
  • Claim Center
      • Claim Center
      • Should I File a Claim?
      • Report a Claim
      • Roadside Assistance
      • Find a Service Provider
      • Check Your Claim Status
      • Manage Your Claim Experience
        • Claim Reporting Next Steps
        • Claim Guide Library
        • Workers Compensation Resources
      • Claim Capabilities
    • Send us your receipts, photos, invoices and more with just a push of a button.

      Securely share information with your Claim team.

      Send us your receipts, photos, invoices and more with just a push of a button.

      Upload a File
  • Prepare & Prevent
      • For Individuals
      • Home Central
        • Buying & Selling
        • Home Maintenance
        • Home Renovation
        • Home Safety
        • Moving
        • Smart Home
      • Travelers Garage
        • Buying & Selling
        • Car Maintenance
        • Distracted Driving
        • Safe Driving
        • Teen Driving
        • Boating
      • Insurance 101
      • Weather
      • For Business
      • Industries
        • Construction
        • Energy
        • Manufacturing
        • Nonprofit
        • Small Business
        • Technology
      • Topics
        • Business Continuity
        • Cyber
        • Driver and Fleet Safety
        • Facilities Management
        • Internet of Things
        • Product and Services Liability
        • Supply Chain Management
        • Workplace Safety
      • Travelers Risk Index
    • Managing Through COVID-19

      Managing Through COVID-19

      Resources to help you adapt to the realities of COVID-19.

      Learn more
  • Home
  • Prepare & Prevent
  • Business
  • Industries
  • Manufacturing
  • Breweries and the Craft of Managing Risks

Breweries and the Craft of Managing Risks

craft brewer checking batch for risks craft brewer checking batch for risks

Craft brewers can spend hours in search of that perfect balance of hops and malt, sampling new ingredients and dreaming up the next distinctive signature beers. Part art, part science and all passion, many craft breweries are growing into larger operations, adding taprooms and expanding their distribution. Beer trails that attract a growing base of ardent consumers are putting once obscure breweries on the map.

There were more than 6,200 craft breweries operating in the U.S. in 2017, double the number from four years earlier.1 While homegrown brewers may understand what goes into making a quality brew, they may be unaware of some risks that their growing craft breweries face, according to Reese Cann, a Travelers Risk Control Liability Specialist, who works with craft brewers on identifying and managing risks, from hosting special events to handling product recalls.

“Brewers typically understand how important it is to have clean tanks and production lines, because the impact can be immediate and spoil an entire batch,” Cann said. But there are other risks to consider. Master brewers can quit a brewery with a popular beer recipe in tow if contracts are not in place to protect the brewery’s intellectual property. Lack of proper liquor liability training can lead to the brewery being sued if, for example, an overserved patron causes a car accident.

Protecting Your Brewery as it Grows

Heath Kidd, Travelers’ Food Manufacturing INDUSTRYEdge Manager, says that craft breweries need to practice diligence as they expand from a homegrown company. This includes being aware of changing food safety regulations. For example, the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act focuses on preventing foodborne illnesses and brings breweries under FDA regulation for the first time.

Food facilities are required to have a food safety plan in place that includes hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls (HARPC) to minimize or prevent identified hazards.2 In addition to these risks, craft breweries also face more common business risks, including premises liability, fire, theft and equipment breakdown.

Here are seven ways to help protect your craft brewery from risk:

  1. Protect your supply chain. Do all of your hops for a seasonal brew come from one supplier? That could leave you vulnerable to supply chain issues. Make sure you have a steady and available supply of ingredients, at the quantity you need. Contracts with growers in a specific geographic area, where hops flourish, can be competitive. Have a backup supply plan in case there’s a problem receiving a shipment in time.
  2. Plan your response to a product recall. Suppose there’s a problem with a label, and an allergen, such as wheat, is not mentioned, or a foreign material is discovered in one of your bottles. Have a plan for everything, from how you will notify customers and get products off the shelf to how you’ll engage a lawyer and address consumer concerns on social media.
  3. Ensure employment contracts protect your IP. Contracts should ensure that if a master brewer leaves the brewery, all recipes remain the property of the brewery and can’t be replicated at a competing brewery.
  4. Train staff on liquor liability. If you are holding tastings on your property, make sure staff are properly trained on serving alcohol to patrons. Assign volunteers to other tasks rather than serving alcohol if they are not properly trained.
  5. Consider liabilities when holding special events. Events can present a range of risks, from injury to patrons who might slip in an area not intended for visitors, to security issues. Consider adding lighting, warning signs and blocking off areas of the brewery that might present tripping hazards or attract children. For larger events, an event management company can provide security and help manage risks.
  6. Understand advertising liability risks. Be aware of using names and logos that are protected by copyright in your advertising and packaging. Trademark your own beer names as early as possible to avoid duplicate names.
  7. Work with an insurance company that works with craft brewers. Working with an insurance carrier with locations in multiple states and a global presence can help brewers as they expand.

“At Travelers, we understand craft brewers and can help,” says Kidd. Having resources around the country ready to help can be valuable for responding to issues, such as product recalls. Travelers has a mass torts team that can handle large food contamination losses, bringing both Risk Control and Claim professionals who understand the venues and laws affecting craft brewery customers.

How effectively a craft brewery handles a product recall can affect how well it recovers from it, according to Kidd. “We can help brewers respond quicker, setting up hotlines and call centers so we can gather information quickly and consistently.”

Immediately starting the intake process on information eliminates any lost time where information can fall through the cracks, and it also provides resources to gather this information where a smaller company may not have the resources to handle mass call volumes.

Brewers will also want to make sure that they have a variety of skill sets as part of their staff. In addition to craft brewing expertise, it can be helpful to have employees with business savvy, from bookkeeping to marketing. Craft brewing associations, such as the Brewers Association and the Master Brewers Association of America, can be another good source of information for brewers as they grow.

Sources:
1
https://www.brewersassociation.org/press-room/stats-faqs/
2 https://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/FSMA/ucm334115.htm

Learn More About Manufacturing Insurance

More Prepare & Prevent

Manufacturing worker using equipment

Take the Workforce Pressure Test [Tool]

The Workforce Pressure Test can help determine if you are doing enough to help ensure your employees are skilled, safe and resilient.

People walking outside of a business

Premises Security and Liability

Help prevent premises liability issues like slips, trips and falls, as well as safety risks like fires and assaults, with premises security tips.

Man checking manufacturing critical equipment for possible risks

Manufacturing Critical Equipment Quiz [Tool]

If disaster strikes, are you prepared to replace your vital equipment at today’s costs? Take this quiz to test your knowledge. The results may surprise you.

Top Stories
woman checking manufacturing equipment to replace

Why Equipment Replacement Costs Matter for Manufacturers

When manufacturing equipment goes down, it can derail production and lead to costly delays. Learn to help manage equipment replacement costs.

  • Learn more

Related Content

  • Preventing Slips, Trips and Falls
  • Preparing for a Manufacturing Products Liability Claim [Video]
  • Supply Chain Inventory Backup Planning

Two manufacturing professionals walking through manufacturer building

Manufacturing Insurance for Today's Unique Risks


Find an Agent

Need an Agent?

Get the personal service and attention that an agent provides.

Find a local agent in your area:


For Agents

  • Agent Website
  • Become an Agent

See All Manufacturing Content


Travelers logo

Travelers and The Travelers Umbrella are registered trademarks of The Travelers Indemnity Company in the U.S. and other countries.
© 2021 The Travelers Indemnity Company. All rights reserved.

  • Travelers on Facebook
  • Travelers on YouTube
  • Travelers on Twitter
  • Travelers on LinkedIn
  • Travelers on Instagram

Products & Services

  • For Individuals
  • For Businesses
  • Claim Services
  • Prepare & Prevent

Our Company

  • About Travelers
  • Careers
  • Investors
  • Sustainability

Connect

  • Customer Support
  • MyTravelers®
  • For Agents
  • Find an Agent

Legal & Compliance

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy & Security
  • Accessibility
  • Producer Compensation Disclosure