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3mo ago

21st Amendment Brewery to Shut Down, Eliminating 76 Bay Area Jobs

A lender’s halt to financing following multi-year sales declines forced the company to wind down.

Owners Shaun O'Sullivan (left) and Nico Freccia walk past one of the huge brewing tanks at 21st Amendment Brewery’s multi-million dollar facility in San Leandro, the site of the former Kellog Cereal factory, in 2015. The shutdown of 21st Amendment Brewery will wipe out 76 jobs across the Bay Area, according to state filings.
Image
21st Amendment is preparing to open a new 95,000-square-foot brewery in the old Kellogg’s plant in San Leandro, Calif., Wednesday, June 17, 2015. The brewery was founded in 2000 by Nico Freccia and Shaun O’Sullivan. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Overview

  • A state WARN notice confirms permanent closures of the San Leandro production plant and the San Francisco brewpub.
  • The San Leandro facility is scheduled to close on Nov. 4 with 58 layoffs, while the San Francisco site will cut 18 positions.
  • Managing partner Nico Freccia wrote that all operations will cease and all employees will be terminated.
  • Owners cited lost financing after a financial partner’s departure, rising ingredient and packaging costs, shifting consumer tastes, and competition from canned cocktails and hard seltzers.
  • Founded in 2000 and expanded with a San Leandro production hub in 2015, the brewer grew nationally but reported roughly 20% annual sales declines since 2021 as brewery closures outpaced openings in 2024.