This post begins the seventh year of Beer Business Unplugged. As has been typical, I will comment on past posts and the beer industry in general.
This year, there are three topics in the industry that continue to be of importance. The first is the continued decline of the overall industry volume. Second, is Constellation’s transformation from leadership under Bill Hackett to today’s company in which wholesalers are intently watching Constellation determine how the company will work with its distributors. And third is the rapid rise of cannabis and how this plant will not only affect overall beer sales, but also a discussion around the most profitable method for the beer industry to ensure a foothold in the growing industry. Each blog brought a number of comments, making the above three topics the most responded to blogs of the past year.
The post, Whatever Happened To? however, was the blog that brought the highest number of responses. A surprising phenomenon for me. It seems Krombacher is trying to reverse its scorched earth U.S. policy of the last six years! I wish them the best of luck! The news of Warsteiner’s recent fines by the TTB was very disturbing, but to some degree, not unexpected given the challenges importers and brewers are facing in growing their brands. Expect more of the same in 2019.
I always enjoy receiving the responses from readers. Although the majority of responses come directly to me, some are posted on the blog. The number of subscribers, all of whom are in the beer industry, continues to increase into the thousands, this year surpassing 125,000 reads. Thank you all for your interest and loyalty.
As always, I will continue to write weekly throughout the year. Going forward I will cover industry topics based upon your continued interests. Thank you for all your kind comments and feedback. They are fun and informative. And now, year seven begins……
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