1st BATCH OF FILES AVAILABLE NOW!

This week in 1999, long-time AB (and other brands) distrib Cammarano, not far from Seattle, sold its AB biz to another long-time AB distrib, National, in adjacent Tacoma. Another nearby AB distrib, Puget Sound, sold to AB, and that biz was expected to end up at Natl too. Sale by Puget owners Mike and Robbie Schmidt ended long family history in beer biz. The Schmidts once owned, then ran, Olympia Brewing; Mike was mktg veep, Robbie production veep. Meanwhile, Odom Corp, big northwest Miller/liquor/soft drinks distrib at the time, told Puget Sound Biz Journal it had $50 mil to spend in ’99 to buy alc bev distribs in MT, ID and maybe Seattle. Did $130 mil in sales in ’98, over 90% in Alaska. Projected $150 mil in ’99. Another Miller distrib, Columbia Dist in Portland, headed by Ed Maletis at the time, was also on acquisition path in northwest, just as Miller purchased Tumwater brewery, Hamm’s and Henry brands, making Miller more of a player in region. This week in 2001, Capital Bev, the only publicly owned beer distrib, bought Prospect Bevs in metro NYC. Capital now had top 2 malt liquors in mkt, Colt 45 and Olde English, and “should be able to exceed $40 mil in sales within the next year,” co said. Capital needed a shot in the arm. In 2000, net sales were $17 mil, up 33%, but it booked a $1 mil operating loss. In Q1 2001, Capital’s net sales had dropped 35% to $2.6 mil due to “removal of the popular Heineken brand,” and it lost $322K. (Capital wasn’t primary Heineken distrib but was large player in NY’s unique secondary distribution system that sold to very small retailers and very large sub-distribs.)This week in 2005, INSIGHTS noted downward direction of retail alc biz in Chicago since Mayor Richard M. Daley took office in 1989. Since then, city had revoked “about 1,000 licenses for taverns, liquor stores and other businesses,” wrote AP. Hizzoner also “dusted off” an old law that allowed precincts to vote themselves dry, and 430 did just that and were alcohol free areas. Now Daley was pushing for new law to “enable residents to take on individual taverns” that put burden of proof on owners to “show they aren’t hurting neighborhoods.” “So, city now assumes going in that every bar’s a nuisance,” noted INSIGHTS, adding, “this opens door for some pretty nasty competitive strategies.”This week in 2007, “On top of all the headaches AB has faced getting InBev’s Euro brands into AB distrib warehouses and onto retailer shelves” were ongoing lawsuits, noted INSIGHTS. We figured AB had pending cases in at least 5 states – CA, NJ, OH, PA and RI – basically battling distribs over InBev brand transitions. That’s after having suits dismissed in at least 4 others: AZ, KA, MD and LA. “It’s not about all the brands in all the states. But clocks tickin’ and atty fees mounting,” wrote INSIGHTS. All in, AB had invested lotsa cash to move these brands and transition process wasn’t over yet. Some of these lawsuits involved implicit or explicit challenges to franchise protections enjoyed by all distribs. Suits put state and natl assns in tough position as their members were winners and losers. “So far, not a lotta public discussion about long-term implications of these battles for distrib security. Should there be?” we wondered.This week in 2014, regardless of outcome of World Cup match between US and Belgium (US lost 2-1), in Brazil, CNN reported “how America (already) won the World Cup,” because of US’ rapidly growing “interest” in the world-wide phenomenon. For example, US vs Portugal match was “the most-watched soccer game in American history according to Nielsen figures,” at 25 mil viewers. That’s 10 mil more than the average # of viewers of Major League Baseball World Series that past yr; only college and pro Football (American) had higher avg viewers. Then too, US attendance at World Cup, social media presence and revenue for companies involved in the World Cup were at all-time highs, noted CNN.What did this mean for beer? For starters, ABI had “hit the jackpot in Brazil,” according to CNN, with all of its sponsorships (and likely its beer sales). Secondly, more viewers than ever before, and a larger percentage of young people (ages 19-29) were “closely following” the World Cup compared to all other age groups, found Pew Research. Same survey found that more U.S Hispanics across all age-ranges followed the World Cup at least “fairly closely” or “very closely” than any other race demographic. “Gotta think that could be a win for beer, particularly on premise,” noted INSIGHTS. Team USA plays Belgium next in this yr’s tourney.This week in 2016, Diageo announced its longtime government affairs wiz, Guy Smith, was retiring. Guy was one of the principal architects of many of the policy gains that distilled spirits had made over previous 20 yrs. He had long been one of the very sharpest minds in alc bev govt affairs. “During Guy’s tenure the political and cultural environment for spirits has changed radically, in large part due to a concentrated effort Guy laid out 15 years ago,” wrote Diageo. “Guy’s impact is most visible in the area of consumer access. We can now market spirits on television and in sports stadiums - even sponsor sports teams,” co crowed. “Buying spirits is now the norm on a Sunday and in most states you can sample spirits.” “Yes, Guy is the guy who led the efforts at the largest distiller and therefore also at Distilled Spirits Council to make all that happen,” noted INSIGHTS. “And even if beer folks disagreed with some of distillers’ policy objectives (especially equivalence), ya gotta tip your hat to Guy and the spirits industry for their effectiveness in changing (“leveling”) the landscape.”Barring breaking news, we’ll be back in your inboxes on Monday. Have a great July 4 weekend!!

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