John Lane on the Thing Nobody Wants to Talk About

Dear Client: On the ground at Winking Lizard Tavern's 2012 Distributor and Supplier meeting, ops chief John Lane implored his partners to take a hard look at what "nobody wants to talk about": Price. Winking Lizard Tavern is a 14-unit, Ohio-based chain cranking around 7,000 1/2 barrels craft draft per year. It's a top on-premise account for brewers like Stone, Dogfish Head and NAB. Draft beer has accounted for 18.7% of Winking Lizard Tavern's total sales mix from January to