Category: Operations
News TTB Extends Waiver to File Notice When Destroying Beer
Due to the ongoing and “significant business disruptions” due to COVID-19, the TTB is extending the waiver that brewers file a Notice of Intent (NOI) to the TTB when destroying beer. The original waiver was due to expire on July 1st and has been extended to September 1st.
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News Alcohol Justice Protests Regulatory Changes to Help Industry
Alcohol Justice, the California-based alcohol industry watchdog group has written a letter to the California Department Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) protesting the ABC’s temporarily suspension of some alcohol regulations to help those in the alcohol beverage and hospitality industry stay in business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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News TTB Postpones Tax Payment and Other Filing Due Dates
The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) announced today in a circular that they will be postponing several filing and payment due dates for 90-days where the original due date falls on or after March 1, 2020, through July 1, 2020.
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News Calif. ABC Fines Grocery Chain for Trade Practice Violations
The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) announced that they have reached an agreement with Albertsons LLC, Safeway Inc., and The Vons Companies, Inc. to pay $600,000 following an ABC investigation that alleged violations of California alcoholic beverage laws.
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News TTB Back in Biz – COLA Lead Time Extended
TTB employees were back at work on Monday with the re-opening of the government shutdown after more than a month of being out of the office. Most agencies directed their employees to use the first day back to update computer programs, re-set passwords and get settled in. The tech support team at the Department of Housing and Urban Development said it received more than 1,000 calls by 1 p.m. Monday for help getting computers back online and resetting passwords according to a story in the Washington Post.
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News TTB Fines Wholesaler for Pay-to-Play
Elgin Beverage, an Illinois wholesaler of Constellation Brands and other beverages has been fined by the Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau (TTB) for pay-to-play practices in the marketplace. The TTB accused Elgin of making improper payments to retail accounts seeking preferred placement of its products. The wholesaler negotiated a fine of $325,000 for the infractions.
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News Tied House Laws Survive Major Court Case
The Ninth Circuit Court has handed down a huge victory for tied house laws by ruling in favor of the California Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) in the Retail Digital Network (RDN) v. Prieto court case. The case challenged a key tied-house law in California’s Business and Professions Code which prohibits alcohol beverage suppliers from giving anything of value to retailers in exchange for advertising. RDN challenged the provision claiming it violated the First Amendment, which allows truthful and non-misleading commercial speech.
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News TTB Gets Record Trade Practice Settlement
The Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has signaled a possible crackdown on “pay-to-play” in the beer industry by announcing yesterday a major settlement with the Craft Brewers Guild for illegally paying retail licensees money to stock their brands.
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News TTB Posts Results of Label Non-Compliance Survey
One of the roles of the TTB’s is to ensure that alcohol beverages in the marketplace are properly labeled and do not mislead consumers. The TTB maintains an “Alcohol Beverage Sampling Program” (ABSP) which is a random survey of products in the marketplace to evaluate the success of the TTB label approval process and to check for non-compliant products which are in the market without receiving a “Compliance of Label Approval” (COLA) from the TTB.
Each year the TTB conducts an ABSP by purchasing products from the marketplace and do a label assessments to determine if each product is in compliance with TTB labeling regulations. Following the label assessment, each product goes to the TTB laboratory to undergo a series of analyses to determine compliance with certain information displayed on the product labels (primarily alcohol content).
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Expert Topic Shipping Choices – Administration of Freight Logistics
OutSource – Work with a primary freight broker or a “go to guy”, one stop shop, handles everything. The Brewery can negotiate a set “cost plus” arrangement or set budgets on per pallet or per case freight cost targets. This can eliminate a lot of frustration and confusion for you. It may not always get the cheapest freight rate, but the benefit to the brewery’s operation is significant.
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Expert Topic Inbound Freight
This could include dry goods, glass, cans, malt, hops, purchase of new / used equipment, and empty keg returns. Most suppliers will offer to sell your goods “delivered”, cost of unit + freight, sometimes this is a good deal, they have purchasing power, or you could be paying a premium for that freight component – you need to weigh the convenience factor. The easiest way to find out the real cost is to ask the supplier, “what are you charging me for the freight” get that cost and compare rates with an independent source – may the best man win!
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Expert Topic Shipping – LTL – CLASS, NMFC code
Estimating Load Weight – When shipping LTL you are paying the carrier most likely on a weight based rate (also referred to as a tariff). The rate is determined by the weight, linear feet, standard local pick up, delivery fee, and service requirements; i.e.: lift gate required, strict appointment time, freeze protect. The most important factor is to book the LTL freight with an accurate weight.
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Expert Topic Shipping Freight Types
TL – Truck Load – When shipping something that takes up over 16 feet (a large partial) to 53 feet of a trailer and/or up to 44,000 pounds, this is considered a Truck Load. When shipping truckload, you are paying for the whole truck, the truck is going to take or deliver your goods direct from point to point. These carriers are major trucking company names and dominated by small independent and owner operators.
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Expert Topic Shipping – Freight for the Brewery
Shipping and receiving is a crucial component of any successful business that produces a product for consumption. Beer, as a product, offers many unique challenges. Failure to get raw materials to the brewery in time disrupts the brewing schedule. The finished beer product has a built in vulnerability to time and temperature as well as regulatory hurdles that can slow or stop it from reaching consumers. This can make failure to get a shipment from A to B a very expensive mistake. This content is intended to provide brewers with the essential foundation of knowledge needed to prepare and receive shipments, hopefully avoiding costly mistakes and misunderstandings that can doom a small business operating at the razors edge of a profitable margin. Freight for the brewery
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