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Grupo Modelo was founded in Mexico in 1922, and within just three short years the Mexican brewery introduced Corona and Modelo Especial.  Now, 93 years later, Grupo Modelo maintains a more than 60% market share in Mexico and is part of ABI.  In the U.S., Constellation Brands now owns Modelo, with Corona and Modelo Especial […]

It is likely that if you have been in the beer industry for any amount of time, you are aware of either a wholesaler or vendor who has broken state or federal laws.  This is nothing new. In a past blog, it was illustrated that, as a Schlitz wholesaler with a 30%+ market share, I […]

When Miller Lite was introduced in the early 1970s, along with AB, Coors, Schlitz, and other light beers, it took the industry ten years to realized that the light segment was not only here to stay, but could make a major impact on industry sales. When Corona changed from their stubby brown bottle to the […]

At around 6 AM west coast time, 17 years ago today, my wife called my cell phone and asked if I was watching “Good Morning America.”  At the time, I was at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas getting ready to attend the NBWA’s annual conference morning events.  Shortly after switching the channel to the […]

By the late 1980s, Coors Brewing Co. had almost filled their U.S. footprint with the brewery’s eastern expansion.  At the time, Coors’ field sales were managed by two U.S. regions: one eastern, and one western.  Coors chose an executive from Pepsi, a man with no beer experience, to manage the western division.  He conducted his […]

Lone Star Brewing Co., like so many other regional breweries during the late 1940s thru the late 1960s, rode a successful business model by being regional.  Sound familiar?  Of course, regional breweries also had a built-in price advantage during these years. By the late 1960s, the regionals were under attack by AB, Schlitz, Coors (were sold), […]

The Pabst Brewing Co., the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co., the G. Heileman Brewing Co., and perhaps ABI all seem to have one key metric in common:  leadership. Once Paul Kalmanovitz took control of the Pabst Brewing Co. in a hostile takeover, he immediately began slashing overheard from the company, with cuts predominantly made in sales […]

Decades ago, when a major beer distributor sold out, the distributorship was typically composed of only one brand. Likewise, the distributor’s supplier was only focused on two issues: first, how much equity was in the new company and second, how much experience the new owner had in the beer industry.  If the new company had […]

  Editor’s note:  This post first ran on September 4, 2012.  Recent discussions merit a re-post. There is a great deal of talk concerning the upcoming price increases and their effects on the market. I have received e-mails from several of you regarding this round of increases as Nielsen All Channel scans show volumes are […]

A number of years ago, during a transition period in my career within the beer industry, my wife remarked that this profession seemed quite volatile and perhaps not the most secure place to build a career.  She had a good point.  A mental review of my life in the beer industry, and the companies in which […]