“The DSD System is the Best System”

A-B STRs (sales to retailers), through mid-February, are up 2.9% helped by warm weather, easy comps and flat pricing. But that's not the surprising part of Anheuser-Busch Companies chief Pat Stokes speach to analyts yeterday. Pat said many interesting things about the US beer business yesterday, and his soothing confidence-inducing Midwestern monotone will soothe many in the beer business. He has likely put many distributors at ease today with his remarks at the CAGNY conference regarding three-tier, DSD, new products,