Category: Business of Beer
Industry news related to the brewing industry and the business of beer
News People in the News: Julia Herz Sets Up Consulting Firm
Well-known industry veteran Julia Herz has set up her own consulting firm, HerzMuses Enterprises to provide media and communications consultation, motivational speaking and marketplace analysis. Julia was a longtime employee of the Brewers Association before the BA let go 17% of its workforce in June after an initial workforce reduction of 23% in April.
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News Beer or Seltzer? AB InBev Files Suit Against Constellation Over Corona Seltzer
Grupo Modelo, a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev has filed a lawsuit against Constellation Brands claiming that Constellation’s use of Corona Seltzer has breached their deal on the use of the Corona brand name by applying it to a product other than beer.
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News Merger of the Kegs: MicroStar Buys KegStar
MicroStar Logistics, the largest independent owner of beer kegs in the world, announced that it has acquired the keg rental company Kegstar. The acquisition will grow Denver-based MicroStar’s international business by taking on Kegstar’s clients which include breweries in Australia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the U.S.
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News Tiny Oregon Brewery Wins First Round – Judge Orders AB to Halt Seltzer Ad
A U.S. District Judge has issued a temporary restraining ordering Anheuser-Busch to halt Michelob ULTRA Hard Seltzer ads that claim the seltzer is “the only” or “the first national USDA certified organic hard seltzer.”
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News Popularity of ‘Self-Pour’ Systems Grows During Pandemic
Draft “self-pour” systems, where the customer pours beer from the tap faucet themselves with payment made by a credit card tied to an RFID card that dispenses the beer automatically, have grown popular during the pandemic. The systems are being touted to consumers as less contact with servers and being marketed to retailers as a way to save waste at the faucet. The systems are said to increase profit margin to the retailers by as much as 21% on each keg.
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News Pittsburg Brewing to Build Brewery in Old Glass Plant
Pittsburgh Brewing Co. has announced that it will move production of its Iron City Beer to its own brewery, which it plans to build in a shuttered Pittsburgh glass plant. The new brewery will be capable of producing 150,000 barrels a year when it opens in 2022.
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News Tiny Oregon Brewery Sues AB to Pull Seltzer Ad
Suzie’s Brewery Co. has asked the U.S. District Court in Portland for a temporary restraining order to stop Anheuser-Busch from making false statements in ads for ULTRA Seltzer. The AB ad, which has aired during NFL playoff games, claims that ULTRA Seltzer is the “only national USDA organic certified seltzer.”
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News OSHA Issues New COVID-19 Workplace Guidance
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued stronger worker safety guidance to help employers and workers implement a COVID-19 protection program and better identify risks which could lead to exposure and contraction, according to a statement from the Brewers Association.
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News NBWA BPI Indicates a Return to Normal for Beer Industry
The National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) released the Beer Purchasers’ Index (BPI) for January 2021. The total BPI for the month is at 66.4, about where it was in January 2020, showing signs that the beer industry may be returning to normal.
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News Lessons Learned One Year After Anchor Brewing Unionizes
It has been a little over one year since employees at Anchor Brewing overwhelmingly voted to ratify a contract to unionize. It was a rare step taken by very few – if any – craft brewers across the country. But as the industry matures and continues to grow, other brewery employee groups may be looking to do the same.
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News Trends for 2021
Continuing our series on trends for the new year, there are some common themes showing up. Business will not go “back to normal” for craft brewers as the pandemic subsides. Certain trends that helped keep breweries alive in the past 12 months have been adopted by consumers, maybe for good.
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