![]() ![]() He wondered why not having an adult beverage meant that he had to settle for a kids’ one. At restaurants, when he’d ask about nonalcoholic beverage options, he’d be handed the kids’ menu. He was about to turn 30, was working at one of the world’s biggest hedge funds, and didn’t have time to feel like crap-and he didn’t want to. The vision for Athletic started as a personal pain point for Shufelt, who stopped drinking in 2013. Advertisements make it appear that everyone is always drinking and that there’s room for alcohol at any and every occasion. At first it may seem surprising, given that alcohol is so deeply entwined with being an adult in American society. Suddenly this product that was typically brought up only as the butt of a joke had become extremely popular. “Non-alcoholic beer was this thing nobody ever wanted, and now there was a huge shortage.” It became clear that Athletic was filling a void in the market that no one had touched for decades. “We were perpetually out of stock for the first two years,” said Shufelt. Since the product is non-alcoholic, it can be sold online and shipped, so Athletic became the first beer company to do true e-commerce. The beer was selling out before it even made it to the shelves. ![]() In the summer of 2019, people in Massachusetts figured out what day the Athletic truck delivered to Whole Foods and Wegmans and took to intercepting it in the parking lot. He served people who had driven from all over the country to visit, from as far away as Tennessee, Ohio, and Florida. When the taproom opened in 2018, Shufelt was the guy behind the counter pouring beer. ![]() The Athletic Brewing taproom is the first of its kind in the United States, and was a pretty immediate success. “We wanted to turn that on its head and make non-alcoholic beer something that was positive-what you want to drink when you want to feel good rather than feeling like you need to turn the label around and hide it.” ![]() “Non-alcoholic beer has always been this penalty box, what you drink when you can’t participate,” said founder and CEO of Athletic Brewing Company, Bill Shufelt. Turns out, that same approach to living can help you live your best life. Live Without Compromise Athletic reinvented beer with an uncompromising approach to brewing. ![]()
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