Garry Boyd, VP Food, Beverage & Cultural Innovation from BarFly Ventures joins us to talk about expanding Hopcat throughout the country, how the craft beer industry has evolved, and how Hopcat manages digital marketing and the web. Lots of great insights in this conversation about both the beer industry as a whole and what it takes to create a successful brewpub (hint: great beer is key).

Show highlights:

• Keeping a local focus as Hopcat opens new locations across the country
• How Hopcat balances growth and authenticity
• The evolution of the craft beer industry and market share growth
• Is the craft beer industry at a saturation point?
• The importance of authenticity and quality
• Having an internal team that handles marketing and creative
• How social media has helped them better understand their customers and engage with them
• Creating internal processes and templates to be more consistent and cohesive in their digital marketing efforts and the web
• Using Untappd for its beer menu (and keeping it up-to-date)
• Being stewards of craft beer

About Garry Boyd

Garry is the creative force behind BarFly Ventures’ Food, Beverage & Cultural Innovation team at HopCat, Stella’s Lounge, Grand Rapids Brewing Company, The Waldron Special Events & TikiCat – 5 concepts based (mostly) in Grand Rapids but expanding rapidly throughout the nation. He oversees all food and beverage menu development, as well as the sustainability & charity initiatives for the BarFly Ventures concepts.

He currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Michigan Brewers Guild, where he chairs both the Sustainability & Quality subcommittees. Outside of being a father of three, Garry feels his greatest contributions to society are the invention of HopCat’s Crack Fries™ and Stella’s Lounges’ Stuffed Burgers. He has a passion for bartending, craft cocktails, and Michigan craft beer. Garry has spent 25 years in the industry, mostly bussing tables and changing out burnt lightbulbs. He is partial to the #5, and his favorite band is The Cure.

Links:

http://www.barflyventures.com/

https://hopcat.com/