Category: Uncategorized

In the summer of 2012, these pages ran a post on the coming tsunami regarding the number of projected new SKUs and craft breweries being constructed.  Now, five years later, it appears that the tsunami has blown itself out. Last week, Brett Cooper, of Consumer Edge Reports, stated that SKUs have dropped from a high […]

To all BBUP readers:   I have experienced an unexpected technical problem with our site.  Unfortunately it will have to be rebuilt which means I will not be able to send out weekly blogs for about a month.  I am sorry this happened and ask all to be understanding until it is fixed.  You can still […]

The stories coming out of Florida and the deep southeast following the devastation that Hurricane Irma caused, are similar to those from Texas and Louisiana following Hurricane Harvey.  Help is pouring in from all over the world and stories of people helping each other are populating the news. What you are not going to hear […]

The University of Texas at Dallas, under the direction of Dr. Richard Harrison, is conducting a semester-long graduate study class on the Texas beer industry, with a focus on the state’s craft beers.  The class is a continuation of what many universities are providing for their students who are desirous in attaining an education and […]

In the summer of 1970, my second year as a helper at the Dallas Coors distributor during my college years, Corpus Christi and south Texas were hit by Celia, a category three hurricane.  Hurricane Celia, not unlike Hurricane Harvey, hit Corpus directly during the first week of August.  Damage, at that time, was estimated at […]

By 1980, after years of market dominance by Coors in both Kansas and Oklahoma, it was clear that those states had been targeted by AB.  At Coors of Kansas in Wichita, the largest distributor in Kansas, we had a market share of 61+%.  There were markets in Oklahoma and western Kansas where Coors had a […]

The U.S. beer environment during the 70s and 80s was similar to that of craft beers, in that it is similar to the way wholesalers thirty to forty years ago envisioned the future of imports.  Successful European brewers who were importing into the U.S. were, decades ago, highly desirable brands with good margins, despite the […]

While the belief is that the beers driving the retro craze are brands that have already died, the reality is, those beers have truly never died, depending on one’s definition of what dead means.  A couple of national brands, Pabst and Coors, have experienced growth for years, while Miller High Life is showing some signs […]

Mike’s Hard Lemonade was founded in 1999 and headquartered in Lakewood Colorado.  At the time, it was a Canadian company and the liquid was spirit-based, however, due to U.S. restrictions, Mike’s was malt-based when they opened the U.S. market.  It was a very unique product for the time with edgy marketing and the brand quickly […]

“Hire sales people who are really smart problem solvers, but lack courage, hunger, and competitiveness, and your company will go out of business” – Ben Horowitz. Hand held devices, IPads, laptops, cell phones, and computers are all tools of the trade for any beer sales person in today’s market.  There is not a major distributor […]