Archive for the ‘Wine Business’ Category
After consumers’ demand for easy access to alcohol products via direct shipping is satisfied, the most important issue facing the alcohol industry is self-distribution—wineries, brewers and distillers possessing the right to self-distribute their products in-state and over state lines directly to retailers and restaurants rather than be forced to use wholesalers. Michigan brewers want to address this issue now, but as always they are opposed by greedy, rent-seeking wholesalers who can’t make a reasonable or rational case for their protected…
Despite the Alabama legislature being directed to form a Study Task Force to examine the wine direct shipping issue, I remain shocked that it actually happened. What’s even more shocking is that after 45 other states have figured out how to implement direct shipment of wine, Alabama needs a study task force to figure it all out. And it appears there are a few folks on the task force who can’t quite figure out how to implement direct shipping while…
When you read or hear a group or person issue forth with a non-sequitur, the first thing you ought to ask is, why are they not addressing the point or the issue. Emma Balter writing for the Wine Spectator has done a really great job of covering the process and implications of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Tennessee Wine v Thomas—the ruling that declared states may not abuse their 21st Amendment powers to discriminate against out-of-state retailers. In her…
What do wine consumers care about? It’s a good question that Wine Intelligence’s CEO Lulie Halstead took a whack at when she gave a presentation at the recent. In the report on Halstead’s presentation, writer Matthew Jenkins reiterated Halstead’s four things consumers care about: PersonalizationExperienceConvenienceSustainability It’s hard to disagree that these are things that some wine consumers care about. However, together they are not the MOST IMPORTANT things consumers care about. I’m sure Halstead knows this. She is talking about…
With the recently announced merger of wine and spirits distributor Young’s Market with Republic National Distributing, we now have three companies that control more than 60% of wine and spirits distribution market in the United States: Southern Glazers, the new Republic-National-Youngs, and Breathru Beverage. It has long been a near unbreakable tenet and motivation of state alcohol regulation that no single company be allowed to control too great a portion of the market. Back in 2017, for example, when state…
