Category: Uncategorized

At last week’s NBWA convention in Chicago, much of the talk among distributors and speakers centered around the current performance of the craft segment.  Both the scan numbers and data show a slowdown in craft volume sales and, the numbers show that the slow down seems to be accelerating during this second half of the […]

For decades, the Wholesale Beer Distributors of  Texas has published a monthly report analyzing beer shipments into the state.  This report begins with a summary of the entire state’s beer by volume, by brand, and by package.  The report also converts the brand totals into barrels.  Obviously, this is a pretty handy report as it provides […]

There is the saying: “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Such is the case in the beer industry, but not necessarily in a negative way. We see history repeating itself in the birth and incredible surge of craft beers, aided, of course, by the internet and social media.  Go […]

Shortly after Jerry Jones purchased the Dallas Cowboys he sold the beer concession rights to Texas Stadium.  What was unusual about this deal was that Texas Stadium, at that time, was not part of the Dallas Cowboys, because the NFL had a sponsorship with AB.  When Jones sold the rights, the football team was experiencing […]

The west coast has always been the incubator of trends for the United States, and this, of course, includes trends in the beer industry.  Crafts got their start on the west coast, predominantly due to that area’s favorable laws, and as some will point out, the mild climate of that area.  Expect the next big […]

 Last week’s post, “Success is How High You Bounce When You Hit the Ground,” brought more responses from readers than normal.  In fact, comments came from all levels of the beer industry, including both large and small companies.  There were two topics in the post, but all the comments were directed at the difficulty vendors are […]

The beer industry of the 1980s was quite different than that of today.  Of course there have been many brand changes, and there is the obvious rise of crafts and imports, but there has also been an underlying transformation in the culture of the industry as a whole. Consider that in 1980, there were less […]

Historically, when a brand died, it was truly dead. This adage, however, was proved untrue when Pabst Blue Ribbon became a favorite of the young anti-establishment consumers.  Pabst changed what was once a tried and true rule in the beer industry.  You might even say that Pabst was the incubator for the retro trends we […]

Perhaps the only thing more desirable to a beer wholesaler than Guinness, are the Modelo and Heineken brands, though Stella could be a close second.  Even before the 1970s, when imports were the crafts of that time, Guinness and Heineken were considered staples. As discussed in previous posts, no brand of beer owns a holiday as […]

In the popular movie often played on many cable channels, Heartbreak Ridge, Clint Eastwood plays marine Sargent Tom Highway, who has been in the service for decades.  There is a line Eastwood refers to regarding his win/loss record as a soldier:  “No wins, one loss, and one tie.” Prior to 2008, one can argue that AB’s […]