Athletic Brewing loses marketing chief amid crowded non-alcoholic beer market

Athletic Brewing has entered a new marketing chapter just as nonalcoholic beer has moved from curiosity to combat zone. Andrew Katz has left the Milford, Connecticut company after nearly five years as chief marketing officer, and the timing matters because Athletic is no longer building awareness from scratch. It was founded in 2017 by Bill Shufelt and John Walker, and Katz had been the first-ever CMO since 2021, helping turn the brand into one of the loudest names in the category.

That scale is why the vacancy is more than an internal reshuffle. Athletic says its beer is now available in all 50 states, and the company was valued at $800 million after a $50 million equity financing round from General Atlantic in 2024. In 2022, industry coverage said Athletic accounted for nearly half of all nonalcoholic craft beer sold in the United States, and a 2025 report put its share of the broader U.S. NA beer market at almost 20 percent. Those numbers make the next marketing hire less about building a brand and more about protecting shelf space, sharpening the message and holding ground as legacy brewers and newer entrants crowd into the cooler.

Athletic’s marketing challenge is bigger than beer alone. The company says it is a Certified B Corp, and its Two For The Trails initiative donates up to $2 million annually to expand outdoor access through trails and parks. Athletic also says it runs a wholesale program and sells hop-infused sparkling water alongside its nonalcoholic beer, which gives the brand a wider platform than a single flagship lineup. That breadth can help in a category where the premium tier is getting busier, but it also raises the bar for keeping the story clear.

Katz’s public profile showed how central marketing was to Athletic’s rise. A January 2026 podcast still identified him as the company’s CMO, a reminder that he remained a visible part of the brand’s growth story even as the market around Athletic changed. Now the company is searching for a replacement who can manage a category leader in a segment that is still expanding, but no longer novel. For Athletic, the next phase will be about defending the lead, not just introducing the idea.