Markstein Sales bought rights to a bunch of craft/import and NA brands from Bay Area Distributing, including Drake's, Bear Republic, Asahi, Calypso, Nestle and Poppi. Markstein sells over 4 mil cases, has over 200 employees and is largest "woman owned and operated wholesale beverage distributor," co said. It's led and owned by Laura Markstein. Laura is from a different branch of the same family as Markstein Bevs, which just sold its entire biz in Sacramento. Each of the 2 Markstein distribs sold Constellation Brands, after forced consolidation, to Reyes Beer Division, and each ultimately sold their Sierra Nevada to RBD too. But Markstein Bevs just completed sale of its entire biz, with deal to sell AB and craft brands to Donaghy, while Markstein Sales is staying in and buying brands from Bay Area. Bay Area founder Ken Sodo is retiring. He has distributed Sierra Nevada for decades. No announcement at presstime on his Sierra volume, but if past is prologue, there's a very likely destination.

AB distribs gathered in St. Louis for an annual summer meeting yesterday, regularly scheduled for AB and its distribs, marking 2d time they met in original hometown of St. Louis heading into peak summer selling season. "We have communicated some next steps with our internal teams and wholesaler partners," re Bud Light, co confirmed to local news outlet, Fox2now. "First, we made it clear that the safety and welfare of our employees and our partners is our top priority. Second, Todd Allen was appointed Vice President of Bud Light reporting directly to [cmo] Benoit Garbe....Third, we made some adjustments to streamline the structure of our marketing function to reduce layers so that our most senior marketers are more closely connected to every aspect of our brand activities." Net-net, "these steps will help us maintain focus on the things we do best: brewing great beer for all consumers, while always making a positive impact in our communities and on our country." More detail on the meeting coming soon.

In-person interactions and dependable analysis of the latest news and numbers are crucial tools in times of great upheaval. Join us next week for the Beer Insights Spring Conference in Chicago to learn and connect with other US beer industry execs and thought leaders. Those learnings and connections are more valuable than ever at this moment of hyper-fast change.

This week in 1980, Schmidt prexy Bill Elliott claimed slotting shenanigans were happening again. "After what SEC and ATF have done to this industry," with investigations, Bill said he thought "we'd seen the end of it," that "everyone would be too scared to continue." Bill claimed: "It has started again," as wholesalers and concessionaires say they're being pressured to favor major brands, drop others, with discounts being offered as inducements. "This industry doesn't need this kind of activity," he told NBWA meeting, "and if activity continues, you'll see federal government intervention like you've never seen before."

Facing loss of about 100 jobs linked to Diageo's plan to close larger-scale Guinness brewery in Maryland, Baltimore County officials are willing to offer $500K in incentives to an existing area brewer to contract produce the co's blonde ale, the Baltimore Banner wrote. Recall, part of the aim of the Relay, MD brewery was to produce a locally rebranded Guinness Baltimore Blonde. And tho that brand performed better in the area than nationally, it's still declining steeply as strength in the co's malt bev portfolio shifted to classic Guinness stouts, newer NA offering (all imported from Ireland) and Smirnoff FMBs.

Molson Coors' offices are on the move after all. Co signed a "long-term" 83,848 sq-ft lease for floors 34-36 at 320 South Canal (BMO tower) in Chicago and anticipates moving its Americas HQ in summer 2024 when the lease begins, per announcement this morn. New space is roughly half the size of its current offices at 250 S Wacker Dr, as we reported when news of the move leaked last mo (see Apr 19 issue). And it's essentially around the corner from co's current spot.

In more ebullient days when sky seemed limit, altprotein player Beyond Meat announced broad alliance with PepsiCo that was to start on snack side and eventually encompass bevs as well (BBI, Jan 26 2021). But as co hunkers down to revive sagging sales and slash cash burn, that inaugural snack effort focused on jerky lately is going in reverse.

Great Range Capital and Harris Preston & Partners private-equity houses are continuing to roll up coffee roasters under their FairWave banner, lately adding Twin Cities players Folly Coffee Roasters and Philtera Cold Brewed Coffees to pair they already own in area. Already in mix there are Up Coffee, picked up last Aug, and Spyhouse Coffee Roasters, added in 2021. We'd sketched out FairWave strategy back in 2020 when it had just added pair of Kansas City roasters and was in hunt for more (BBI, Sep 24 2020). By now its website lists 9 roasters and bakeries clustered in Minn and Kansas City, near base of Great Range, which focuses on heartland investments that have included Mountain Valley Spring Water. Harris Preston is based in Austin.