Take two aspirin and call me in the morning..

In the early 1970s, I purchased a new Chevrolet Caprice which was loaded with all of the bells and whistles.  It was a family car, and after owning it for three years, even with very low mileage, the car had basically fallen apart.  The dash panel had cracked, wires fell out from under the dash, the door side panels had fallen off and there were a number of other issues.  Simply put, the car was junk.  Being feed up with the lack of quality, I purchased a Volvo sedan.

This Volvo lasted 17 years with very little problems. In fact, it served as my son’s first car.  I felt my son was safe in the Volvo since the car maker was known, first for its safety and secondly, for its’ quality.  At the time, both European and Japanese car makers were highly regarded.

The success of foreign cars spilled over to imported beers.  Imported beers were hot and some very good imports were available.  Molson was one of the most desirable brands at that time, and the beer was expanding across the nation.  Molson had just entered Austin and had made the decision to go with the Schlitz distributor.  Molson Golden was a hit and Austin was selling five truckloads a month!  Considering all the Schlitz wholesalers were struggling with losing volume, getting a brand like Molson Golden with higher margins could truly make a difference.  It was a time when the new Coors wholesalers were not yet ready to sell out, which was soon coming as Coors was not getting traction.

It did not matter what new beer was coming to your market, the wholesaler did what they could just to ensure an interview; calls were made and strings were pulled for recommendations.  As a wholesaler, if you got an interview, you rolled out the red carpet.

These days, distributors are besieged by dozens of crafts and are pushing back on the deluge of requests.  Unless the craft is well established, think Yuengling, chances of a distributor meeting with a new craft brewery is, at best slim.  The standard distributor response to the craft beer desirous of an interview is:  “Send me some samples.”  Really?

If the craft is a startup, or a recent start up, the idea of sampling the liquid makes sense.  Much has been written on the lack of quality in many new craft beers.  In this situation, it does tend to be a decision which would save time, however, if the brewery has a successful track record, which includes new imports that have a successful and long history, it appears to be an unnecessary push back or an excuse.

Any distributor making a decision to acquire a brand which has a track record of success, without understanding the business model of the brewery, is only hurting their company, their retailers, and most importantly, their customers.  Access to market, or simply the lack of having the opportunity to present one’s products, and the ability to present business plans to the middle tier, is a major reason there is such frustration with the brewers and vendors.

Those distributors who are proactive, seek out growth, and listen to new opportunities, are the ones with whom vendors will select to do business.  Believe it when I say, vendors talk!  Take two aspirin and call me in the morning…