Triple Bottom Brewing, a brewery that solves local-community problems
Winner of "B Corp certification" for its contribution to social development and environmental protection
There are stories of brands that challenged the various worries and difficulties of modern society and created innovative solutions. The brand we introduce this time is "Triple Bottom Brewing," which presented a locally rooted solution to the problem of imbalance in development between regions.
Triple Bottom Brewing is a social enterprise located in Philadelphia, USA—a beer-making company that pursues the "triple bottom line (Profit, People, Planet)." The brand's founder is a woman named Tess Hart, who studied for an MBA and environmental management at Yale University and came to take an interest in beer-making and social enterprise. Having worked as a political consultant, she met Kyle Carney, who had extensive beer-making experience, founded Triple Bottom Brewing in 2016, and officially opened in 2019. The distinctive point of this rather plain founding story is that the founder made it a business goal to create social, environmental, and economic value through beer, to provide employment opportunities, and to cooperate with the local community.
From a Small-to-Mid-Sized Region, the Limits of a Small Brewery
[A view of the Triple Bottom Brewing store ©Triple Bottom Brewing]
Triple Bottom Brewing started as a small-to-mid-sized local brewery. So in the early days it could only secure limited recognition and profits that did not extend beyond the surrounding area. They took as the essence of their problem the fact that, due to the brand's limited recognition and low competitiveness in the beer market, their products and values were not being sufficiently conveyed.
Leadership and Capability as Internal Motivation, Customer Connection as External Direction
As with all founders, Triple Bottom Brewing's founders, too, were putting passion and effort into beer-making. On top of that, they added connectivity with the local community and sustainable production methods. And through the strong motivation and pride gained from this, and the positive change it brought to the local community, they discovered their own differentiated value.
And Triple Bottom Brewing reflected on the question, "Why do we look at beer only as beer?"—strengthening its connection with customers. They saw the beer they produce as having the value of a work of art rather than a simple drink, and pondered its very being. They respected the characteristics of the region where the beer was born and the characteristics of the raw materials produced in the region. They led their customers to feel that, simply by drinking the beer, they were supporting and contributing to the local community and culture.
Triple Bottom Brewing also built a powerful brand message. It contained their problem definition and direction for development, described above. They promised to be "a brewery that makes high-quality beer while growing in a way that respects the local community and the environment." This promise added meaning to customers' act of buying beer and helped form trust and loyalty toward the brand. And by keeping this promise, Triple Bottom Brewing was able to create sustainable growth and social influence.
[Triple Bottom Brewing, which received B Corp certification in 2019 ©Triple Bottom Brewing]
A Good Problem Definition Creates a Good Answer
Triple Bottom Brewing set its corporate goals as increasing production, strengthening sustainability, strengthening its brand image, and contributing to the local community. And to effectively achieve these goals, it actively worked on communication. It introduced an internal communication platform to enhance smooth communication between teams and actively shared ideas for improving the production process. Increased production and improved efficiency followed. It also did not miss out on active communication with consumers. Its social-media and online-community activities drove the rise of brand recognition and value.
Strengthening sustainability together with the region and the environment was also an important task. On the basis of improved internal communication, it shared and realized the need to strengthen the eco-friendliness of the production process. In 2019, it also obtained "B Corp certification" for its contribution to sustainability and high-quality production. This certification recognized Triple Bottom Brewing's social and environmental responsibility and acknowledged the achievement of the following results.
• Social impact: Contributing to social development through positive interaction with the local community
• Environmental impact: Contributing to environmental protection through eco-friendly production methods and recycling
• Governance and transparency: Efficient internal communication within the organization and strengthened governance
And so Triple Bottom Brewing's problem is being solved.
The Brand Promise Discovered Through Solving Problems
[Triple Bottom Brewing in its new branding from 2022 ©Smith & Diction]
The promise that the brand Triple Bottom Brewing conveys to customers can be summarized as follows.
First, Triple Bottom Brewing produces beers of various styles and flavors on the basis of outstanding skill and experience. As with this article, the world is paying attention to the social value this brand creates, but in fact this company's beer is a capable brewery that shows flavors rich and varied enough to captivate the palates of beer lovers.
Second, drinking Triple Bottom Brewing's beer is not only enjoying the beer's rich foam and the aroma of hops but also supporting a business model that seeks to have a positive impact on the local community and the environment. Triple Bottom Brewing is a social enterprise pursuing a triple bottom line that embraces Profit, People, and Planet, and it encourages customers to feel satisfaction and pride that they are taking part in a good cause while drinking its beer. As a social enterprise, it shares its vision and values with customers, presenting a direction for looking at beer and society from a new perspective.
Third, the region and local culture that Triple Bottom Brewing loves are always with it as the foundation of the brand. If you want to buy Triple Bottom Brewing's beer, you have to go at least near Philadelphia. To buy the beer, you must visit the Triple Bottom Brewing taproom in Philadelphia in person or order online. Triple Bottom Brewing continually emphasizes the fact that it is positioned as a regional company rooted in the region.
Triple Bottom Brewing, which resolved a regional problem through high-quality beer and individual social pride, also touches on the regional extinction that is being raised as a social problem in Korea as well. Distinctive regional brands that are like a hope for solving the problem are also increasing. Of course, we all know that the environment is not easy. Protecting a region, and coexisting with it, is not as easy as it is said or as it is felt. No—it is difficult without question. But we have pride as inhabitants of Earth, and the value of culture and the arts, which will be an answer that dissolves all difficulties.
by Editor L