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  Over the years, I had the opportunity to address a number of college classes on the beer industry.  At the beginning, my talks were all about marketing, how marketing was used in the industry and how the industry was evolving.  Once Philip Morris bought the Miller Brewing Company, and introduced their idea of marketing from […]

    Just recently, Maker’s Mark Whiskey became the latest beverage company to misjudge its customers, or its product, and backpedal to protect its brand.  Thousands of customers told Maker’s Mark that the company had made a huge mistake when it reduced the alcohol content in its signature whiskey from 90 proof to 84 proof.  […]

      I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to either work for, or with, many of the industries leaders in all segments: supplier, wholesaler and even retail.  When I first started out, many industry leaders were part of the “greatest generation” and veterans of World War II.  Today, many on the supplier […]

      Prior to the 1980’s, Heineken, for all practical purposes, had the import market to itself.  They were by far the number #1 import, and had been for years, even though their distribution system was primarily through wine and spirit houses.  The growth of Corona, which took off with the change to the clear bottle, […]

  Almost every small south Texas town annually hosts a local event which helps foster community in that town.  Most events are either rodeos or festivals which emphasize what the town is known for, like the Watermelon Festival in Luling, Texas or the Poteet Strawberry Festival in Poteet, Texas.  The three largest rodeos in Texas are the Ft. […]

      Ambitious Brew – The Story of American Beer, by Maureen Ogle, is an outstanding and well written history of the American beer business. Interestingly, it was published in 2006.  Since its’ publication seven years ago, much has changed in the beer industry.  The sale of AB to InBev and the growth of the […]

      Coors expansion into the eastern United States in the early 70’s created quite a stir as it was not unusual for Coors to receive more than 1,000 franchise applications in a major market.  The applicants came from various backgrounds, but most had no experience in the beer industry.  Because even small franchises were […]

  I used to like to play competitive golf and did so until 10 years ago.  These tournaments were local, regional and state events.  Over the years, I noticed that an increasingly large number of contestants were reinstated amateurs who, at one time, had been professional golfers.  Most of these golfers were very competitive and frequently lead or […]

      By the mid 90’s, Glazer’s corporate office had decided to expand their beer portfolio and to purchase beer distributorships.  In retrospect, this decision should have been well received by the industry, however, the affect was just the opposite.  For many years, Glazer’s had been the statewide distributor for Heineken in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.  […]

       During the first years in the beer business, while riding trucks as a helper,  as we would drive to the next stop, the drivers would talk about brands from the 40’s and 50’s that had died and gone away.  While I found their stories interesting, little did I know that there were a number of […]