Importer: Can’t Grow Beer Category Unless Upscale Grows

Dear Client:There are many battlefields on which the beer industry fights: merchandising, tap handles, nightly features, service levels. But perhaps the one that is fast becoming the most important is what some in the industry call "controlling the mouse", or category management, particularly with national chains. We will be talking with category management execs with a few suppliers over the coming days to talk about what's important, and what shopper behaviors they're seeing in their research. First up: Big Green.