Who owns PATAGONIA BEER?

PATAGONIA BEER is owned by

ANHEUSER-BUSCH INBEV

First Brewed

2007

Origin

Argentina, South America

Website

Patagonia Cerveza was founded in 2007 by Mariano Fiori, Mauricio García González, Andrés Nusser and Fernando Farias in Bariloche, Argentina. It was a subsidiary of Cerveza Quilmes, which is majority owned by AmBev, the South American arm of InBev. One year later, the parent company bought out Anheuser-Busch to become Anheuser-Busch InBev.

In 2019, Cerveza Patagonia was introduced to the United States market, with a launch event held at a Colorado ski resort. The brand’s name, stemming from its origin in the Argentine Patagonia region, caused a trademark dispute by the outdoor clothing brand Patagonia. They filed a lawsuit in federal court, alleging that Anheuser-Busch InBev infringed on both its name and its logo. The beer brand’s logo, which features a chain of mountains, bears a striking similarity to the Patagonia logo. AB InBev tried to dismiss the lawsuit, but a judge denied that dismissal request in September of 2019, ruling, “The plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged that its Patagonia mark is ‘famous’ for purposes of its federal trademark dilution.”

Cerveza Patagonia also engaged in marketing activities that Patagonia saw as similar to their environmentally focused brand, including planting a tree for each case sold.

Patagonia also alleged that they had a right to the trademark for beer products, as it had previously partnered with Portland, Oregon based Hopworks Brewing to produce a co-branded beer called Long Root.

In March of 2021, the two parties settled the lawsuit, with Anheuser-Busch InBev agreeing to stop selling the beer within the United States, and Patagonia agreeing to rebrand their beer from Long Root to Patagonia Provisions Wit and Patagonia Provisions Pale Ale. Those beers are now made with regional partners throughout the United States.

The beer remains available throughout Argentina, where it is made, as well as in much of the rest of South America.