Not many businesses can say they’ve won two Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce President’s awards and boast an Atlantic Business Magazine top-50 CEO for 2018 — all before their third year.
But those distinctions belong to Charlottetown’s Upstreet Craft Brewing and its co-founder and CEO Mitch Cobb.
Cobb, 37 (soon to be 38), grew up in Malpeque. He has degrees from the University of New Brunswick (anthropology and international development), Murdoch University in Australia (education) and most recently, a master of business administration degree from UPEI.
Upstreet opened its first location at 41 Allen St. on June 26, 2015. Cobb explains the idea to open a brewery came years before with co-founders Joey Seaman and Mike Hogan over some of Hogan’s homebrew. Seaman eventually moved on from the business.
Cobb recalls opening day was a Friday afternoon, and the liquor license was dropped off at 4 p.m.
“The carpenters were still behind the bar and we just opened up the door and never looked back. We didn’t know anything about running a bar,” says Cobb. “We didn’t have a till. We didn’t have any change to give back to people. We didn’t have any rags behind the bar. We just did it.”
Since then, the business has grown. Upstreet’s beer has been sold across Atlantic Canada and, in March, the business expanded to a secondary retail location and taproom called Craft Beer Corner at the corner of Kent Street and Great George Street. Cobb hasn’t ruled out the idea of expanding off-Island, but says there’s no immediate plans to do so.
And, how does the business plan to celebrate its third year on June 26? With a staff appreciation day.
“We call it Upstreet Day, and we shut down the entire place and we take all of our staff out. We have an entire day of activities,” he explains. “They’re the reason we’re successful.”
Cobb sat down with The Guardian this week to talk about the business and the craft beer industry on P.E.I.
“We didn’t know anything about running a bar. We didn’t have a till. We didn’t have any change to give back to people. We didn’t have any rags behind the bar. We just did it.”
-Mitch Cobb
Q: How does Upstreet set itself apart from other breweries on the Island?
A: Right from the get-go, a couple of things. We wanted to make great beer, but we also wanted to have a strong brand and we wanted to try and create an experience in everything that we do. From the labels to under the caps, the beer to the taproom and all of the different events — I think that sort of set us apart. We also wanted to … create a really strong workplace culture here at Upstreet and also a strong culture that was rooted in the community. And, give back to the community and become part of the community.
Q: So, you’ve recently expanded to downtown Charlottetown with Craft Beer Corner – a secondary retail location and taproom. Any plans to expand and open a location off the Island?
A: It’s not something that we’ve ruled out. But, it’s not something that’s in our immediate future either. You know, it’s interesting with the whole craft beer movement because it is so localized. And then, every community supports their own craft brewery. So, it becomes more difficult the further out you go from where you’re centered. We have had conversations around, “What does this look like in five years? Do we continue to grow our brewery here and try and push out? Do we open up other breweries in other places?” We’ve talked about all kinds of different things. Do we expand into different product lines, like with the soda? So, we’re exploring all kinds of different options. I guess, at this stage, we don’t have any plans yet to.
Q: What advice do you have for anyone looking to break into the craft beer industry?
A: My biggest advice for people is to have a good plan and find a competitive advantage, find what your value proposition is going to be. Because at this stage you can’t just come into the market, and even when we came in with mediocre beer or mediocre branding and stand out in a sea of however many breweries there are now in the Maritimes – upwards of 130. It’s really hard to stand out in that crowd, so I think it’s really important to focus on all aspects – making great products but having great branding and having a really strong business as well. And, that’s what’s going to create success in the industry.
Q: In terms of the industry right now on the Island, what do you think is working and what isn’t working?
A: What’s working right now, on the beer side of things, is the collaboration between breweries. It’s definitely something that’s helping move the market forward. On P.E.I., we just had sort of our first official meeting as a group of craft brewers. We’ve finally reached that point where there’s five breweries on P.E.I. and there’s two more opening up. It was great to get together and talk about some of the common issues that we have. You know, in Nova Scotia, they have a very strong voice as a group of craft brewers and the same in New Brunswick. So that type of collaboration super helpful. I think the support too we get from consumers is really working in our favour.
Q: What isn’t working?
A: What’s not working that well is interprovincial trade barriers. It’s a real struggle. It’s interesting because the more I talk to people about the things we’re struggling with in the beer industry, the more I find out that it’s not just the beer – it’s the travel industry and it’s the food producers industry. It’s all of these different industries that are facing, maybe not the exact same trade barrier issues, but similar trade barrier issues, which I think is detrimental to us growing as a region in Atlantic Canada.
