Managing the Seasonal Machine

Dear Client: Among standout presentations at CBC, the seminar on forecasting seasonals hit every big craft theme, from quality concerns to distributor relations and SKUmaggedon. Seasonals are only now the second-largest craft style, having been recently overtaken by IPAs, and account for a large chunk of supplier revenues. Yet planning and executing seasonal styles and changeovers seem more mystifying art than science. Ninkasi COO Jessica Jones narrowed the panel focus: "The hardest challenge [among breweries' intermittent items] are those part