Dear Client: The almost unthinkable has happened in the slow progression to reopen Texas, one of the largest beer-drinking states in the country: With cases continually rising in the state — Thursday broke another new case record, at almost 6,000 — and the hospitalization rate breaking records for the 14th straight day, Gov. Greg Abbott … Continue reading “Texas Closing Bars Again”

Dear Client: BBD has dedicated a lot of keystrokes lately to industry-wide out-of-stocks, including big soft drink companies. But one giant producer has been conspicuously absent from the conversation: Anheuser-Busch.  In fact, while almost every large producer has struggled maintaining core package supplies amid the tidal wave of demand at stores, A-B distribs have written … Continue reading “How Is A-B Staying in Stock?”

Dear Client: That is, sadly, a fact — though not equally amongst all brewers. Read on. We suspected that yesterday’s Truth Squadder note — alleging suppliers’ lack of internal communication and misguided priorities amid out of stocks not yet seen this century — would strike a chord.  Indeed it did. We’ve received dozens of heated … Continue reading “There Will Not Be Enough Beer for July 4”

Dear Client: In a press conference Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom told residents “to be the eyes and ears of the government” and report eateries not following COVID-time rules.   “Read up on these guidelines,” the Mercury News reported. “When you go to a restaurant and it’s clear that they’re not practicing what we are preaching, … Continue reading “As Covid Cases Rise, On-Premise in Crosshairs”

Dear Client: Moving retail beer ordering from tel-sell or even pre-sales to online ordering is one of the holy grails of generating incredible distributor productivity.  There seems to be a degree of retailer thirst for this capability:  Mainly because if you’re a manager of a bar/restaurant or liquor/c-store account and you’re “busy” browsing the latest … Continue reading “A-B Upgrades B2B Online Ordering for Distributors”

Dear Client: When we talked with Sierra Nevada Chief Commercial Officer Joe Whitney at the start of April [see CBD 04-06-2020], they were seeing pretty good trends. Pantry load-type shopping had driven Pale Ale to double digit growth that the brand hadn’t seen for decades. The brewer finished Q1 up about 7%.  But Joe fretted … Continue reading “Sierra Will Have an Unexpectedly Good Year”

Dear Client: If you watch cable TV, you might have caught the newest Truly marketing campaign, which started airing this week.  The 30-second main spot features a montage of 20- and 30-something multicultural drinkers making their “entrances” into various party situations. (It’s called “Entrances,” appropriately.)  A shorter spot, “Day Party,” will follow in the next … Continue reading “Truly Pivots to “High Energy” Focus in New Spots”

Dear Client: The latest National Restaurant Association survey shows the continued devastation of the restaurant industry brought on by COVID-19, with over 75% of respondents reporting they don’t expect that they “will be profitable within the next six months.” According to a survey of 3,800 restaurant operators, the industry lost another $40 billion this May, … Continue reading “Majority of Restaurant Operators Don’t Expect Profits for Next Six Months”

Dear Client: As coronavirus cases surge in almost half the states — with some of the earliest openers, like Texas, Arizona, Florida, seeing record case numbers  — there seems little chance for widespread, mandated re-closures.  The New York Times reported that “as of Saturday, the daily number of new coronavirus cases was climbing in 22 … Continue reading “Could Restaurants and Bars Close Again?”

Dear Client: When I was a kid just getting my feet wet in this industry, I worked for one of five Miller and Coors distributors in one single city.  The thinking back then was that the big breweries didn’t want a distributor to get too big and be able to start dictating terms to the … Continue reading “It Ain’t About the Beer, It’s About the Data”

Dear Client: We were wondering when one of the global brewers would do this with its Mexican brands: Heineken is temporarily producing Dos Equis in the Netherlands for the U.S. market.  That is of course to help manage out of stocks this summer, as their Mexican facilities are still in the process of reopening after … Continue reading “HUSA Temporarily Bringing in Dos Equis from the Netherlands”

Dear Client: If that title makes sense to you, kudos. I saw a meme over the weekend somewhere that showed a school bus stranded on train tracks labeled “Craft Brands” and a freight train fast approaching labeled “Chain Resets.” It’s true that even though many formal shelf resets have been postponed, there has still been … Continue reading “Craft Growth Slowing More Slowly in Off-Premise”

Dear Client: Nielsen CGA hosted a webinar yesterday afternoon detailing some of the insights they’ve uncovered about consumers’ willingness to return to the on-premise, and for the most part things are looking pretty encouraging. The firm surveyed 1600 consumers in four different large states that have begun the reopening phase – Texas, Florida, New York … Continue reading “More Signs of Life in the On-Premise”

Dear Client: OK, that headline is an exaggeration. But folks, it’s time to brace for some serious out of stocks on beer’s biggest holiday.  We hate to be the repeated bearer of bad news. But the package shortages we’ve been covering — affecting many top suppliers — seem largely unabated as we head toward July … Continue reading “Will There Be Any Beer for July 4?”

Dear Client: To speed the regulatory review of A-B’s deal to buy out the remaining shares of Craft Brew Alliance it doesn’t already own, the brewers are announcing a sale of Kona Brewing’s Hawaii operations to PV Brewing, “a team of investors with decades of combined beer industry and business growth expertise” that includes ex … Continue reading “CBA Striking Deal to Spin Off Kona Hawaii Ops to PV Brewing”