When Dan Selis revived the 94-year-old Mission Brewery brand in 2007, San Diego’s craft-brewing scene was much different. At the time, there were around two-dozen brewing companies, not just in the City of San Diego, but the entire county. It’s a far cry from the region’s 150-plus breweries and 220-plus brewery-owned venues.
Following its rebirth, Mission quickly became one of the better-known local beer interests. The company gained even more visibility when it moved into the iconic Wonder Bread building across from Petco Park in downtown’s East Village. But over time, the brand has diminished within the craft-beer scene. Ownership not only acknowledges this problem but is taking a big step toward fixing it.
Mission Brewery has appointed brewing-industry veteran Dan Partelow as its new CEO. Partelow spent 27 years at Anheuser-Busch InBev, including a decade serving in assorted vice-presidential roles for Craft Brew Alliance, a collection of acquired craft brands that includes Kona Brewing, Redhook Brewery and Widmer Brothers Brewing. Ownership believes Partelow’s understanding of a diverse mix of brands—including larger-sized craft interests that are largely founder-led—will be key in him understanding Mission’s current challenges and how to solve them.
“I’m excited and honored to be joining the Mission Brewery team,” says Partelow. “The brewery has an amazing sense of heritage and deep roots in the San Diego community. The Mission team is a dedicated, passionate group and, together, we look forward to the opportunity that is in front of us.”
This high-level hire comes as a new ownership structure is put into place, one which shifts existing shareholders’ stakes while bringing on new investors, all of which recognize the need to breathe new life into Mission Brewery’s brand, beginning at home.
“The biggest goal we have is to rejuvenate the Mission brand,” says Mission’s Chairman of the Board Ken Little. “We want to start by bringing our focus back to San Diego and build the brand up here, then continue to take advantage of the distribution we have throughout the state.”
Local brand-rebuilding efforts will include Mission’s tasting room, which used to be housed in the same building as the brewery and cellar but has since been moved to make way for more manufacturing equipment. Mission has since converted the lower level of its two-story event space into a tasting room (which recently reopened). Ownership has also brought on a new hire from outside the brewing industry to aid with marketing and management of both the public and private aspects of the venue.
Beyond upgrades and changes to its in-house hospitality program, there’s a great deal of reconfiguration to be done where Mission’s overall business model is concerned.
“Our operations have shifted pretty significantly, partly due to restrictions on tasting rooms and restaurants as a result of the pandemic. Mission’s business was heavily skewed to on-premise at restaurants and bars, which was a tough place to sell for the past year or two,” says Little, who admits the company’s fade from the forefront goes well beyond COVID obstacles. “Over the years, the meaningful part of our business has shifted to doing contract manufacturing for other brands. That’ll still be part of the business, but we need grow our brand again. That’s our highest priority right now.”
Bringing on a new CEO will result in a change in responsibilities for Selis, who will remain with the company but transition to a new role within its leadership team. Little says Mission will primarily utilize Selis in sales and business-development capacities, leveraging his wealth of contacts with key clients to rebuild and advance customer relationships, while relying on him to help Mission stay true to its brand as Partelow and company work to revitalize it.
Mission Brewery is located at 1441 L Street in downtown San Diego’s East Village community