Archive for the ‘Wine Legal Battles’ Category
Competition. That’s the problem. I hope my regular readers will forgive me for so often returning to the issue of the Craft Beer Extortion Bill (SB 1714) now working its way through the Florida legislature. However, it is such a startlingly instructive example of how the expressions of fealty to the Three Tier System we hear from lawmakers and distributors is really nothing more than a mask for a cynical ploy maintain power at all costs. The issue begs to…
It is useful to return to the topic of the ongoing political debacle currently playing out among Florida craft brewers and wholesalers. It’s an opportunity to examine the most efficient and beneficial way alcoholic beverage can be sold today and why reform to the tied-house laws and three-tier system makes tremendous sense. As a reminder, a bill is currently making its way through the Florida legislature that, if passed, would require Florida’s craft brewers who sell their cans and bottles…
There are pros and cons to the idea that the loser in a civil lawsuit ought to be required to pay the legal fees of the winner. The “pro” side of that argument was aptly demonstrated in this lawsuit, brought by a wine drinker who sued a wine retailer simply because he did not like the wine be bought from the store. First, imagine the kind of marketplace that would be created if a consumer could return a product and…
So, here’s how it’s going to work in Florida if you are a craft beer brewer: 1. You make great beer. 2. You bottle it for sale in your brew pub 3. You must sell it to a distributor/wholesaler 4. The distributor/wholesalers isn’t required to pick up the bottled beer 5. The distributor/wholesaler marks up your beer 30% and you buy it back at the higher price 6. The beer never left your premises. This is not a joke. This…
You think about the issue a lot. You involve yourself in the issue. Some call you an authority. You write about the issue at some length. Then someone, who has not has your opportunity to give the issue the kind of thought you have absolutely nails it…in two words. That’s what I saw happen as I read in the Orlando Sentinel about the ongoing legislative struggle in Florida between craft brewers (your friends, wineries) and proponents of keeping the three-tier…
