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Schlitz had a market share of about 40% in the 1980s when Stroh took over the brand in my market. I was definitely aware of the quality problems Schlitz was having on a national basis.  In spite of those concerns, I felt that at worst Schlitz could maintain a 20% market share. Schlitz had been either […]

As a young District Manager in the early 1970s, Lone Star Brewing Co. relocated me to Lubbock, Texas.  The market I had been assigned to worked with distributorships in Amarillo, El Paso, Midland/Odessa, San Angelo, Abilene and Wichita Falls.  There were also operations in smaller markets including Brownwood, Pecos and Priddy, Texas! The distributor in […]

This post begins the fourth year of BeerBusinessUnplugged, and as promised, I would like to comment on what has taken place over the past year. In the last 12 months, the weekly subscribers have continued to increase and readership surpassed 50,000 hits.  I have truly enjoyed publishing and hearing back from each of you, including both the positive and the negative comments.  Please continue […]

In 1997, Gambrinus landed the importing rights for the US market to distribute Moosehead Beer from Canada.  At the time, Gambrinus handled Modelo only in the eastern part of the US, so the company had to build an infrastructure for the western states. Moosehead was still enjoying some popularity with the younger demographic consumers due […]

Every year during the week of July 4th I am reminded of my time, many years ago, on a Coors beer truck.  Working as a college helper during the summer months, the week leading up to the 4th was always the biggest and largest week of the year. We had one brand and five SKUs.  […]

In 1975, Coors Brewing Co. felt it was time to enlarge its footprint and start expanding.  At this point in history, the last time Coors had expanded was in 1966 with their move into the remainder of north and west Texas, thus putting them in 10 states and half of Texas. In some ways, Coors […]

Historically, the success of any brand of beer or brewery has been relative to its market share.  Market share size was the true measure of a brand’s strength.  While it market share is still discussed and used, it is no longer considered the main matrix, especially in the craft segment. As mentioned in previous posts, in […]

By the mid-1990s, the success of New Belgium was permeating the beer industry.  At the time the beer was sold only in Colorado, but sales in Arizona were forthcoming.  New Belgium’s distribution model was to appoint wine and spirit houses on a statewide basis.  To manage their sales, they outsourced that function using a broker in Denver. In […]

In the decades before the term line extensions entered the beer language, brewers focused on the handful of segments which drew consumer interest. Beside the premium domestic segment, there were popular priced beers dominated by local regionals. On a national basis, however, Old Milwaukee was the leader, followed by Busch in second place.  Miller introduced […]

We take time every year this week to recognize the birthday of Jim Koch, founder of Boston Beers.  Jim turns 66 tomorrow. In last year’s blog about Jim, May 27, 2014, we highlighted not only the outstanding numbers Boston Beers was putting up, but also looked at some of the new products that were about […]