1st BATCH OF FILES AVAILABLE NOW!

This week in 1992, the Texas ABC pushed back against AB, Miller, Coors and Heileman with "cease and desist" letters after they hiked prices to a wholesaler as a response to wholesaler pricing decisions, wrote INSIGHTS. That's a "reachback," warned Tex ABC as it cited brewers for actions taken in 1990-91 and warned any future violations will result in "suspension of license." Tex ABC Asst Admin Randy Yarborough shared some examples: AB bumped one distrib 3 cents per case 55 days after distrib went up a nickel more than AB recommended; Miller bumped a distrib up 3 cents after it went up a nickel more than recommended during a similar period. Coors went up 4 cents after a distrib went up a dime higher than recommended and Heileman upped price to distrib by 52 cents 45 days after co took a 75-cent price increase. These actions "constitute fixing or maintenance of the profit margin," said Randy. This week in 1999, distribs got some blunt advice at NBWA convention. "Standing still is certain death," said Pabst ceo Bill Bitting. There was still "too much capacity" in wholesale end of biz, noted Bill, and distribs gotta be "as aggressive as possible in growing through acquisition." If no willing sellers, Bill recommended shared services as interim solution. (That's what Pabst did when it started contract biz with Stroh.) Consultant Lamont Seckman of Denver Mgmt Gp told distribs at NBWA seminar it might be time to sell if: distrib sells under 20 cases per account per week; mkt share was only in hi-teens; growth stagnant and portfolio "fragmented" (in other words no "horse" or strong brand to carry biz into future); distrib's operating income under 5% of sales and sales dropping. Like others, Lamont saw distrib values coming down "a little." Consolidation oppys were driving prices up, he said, but supplier contracts driving it down. Distrib valuations kept rising after Bill gave that speech but consolidation has ramped up over the last couple decades.This week in 2007, Coors upped its sports marketing presence once again. Coors agreed to fork over $20 mil over next 5 yrs to become official NASCAR beer starting in Jan 08, reported USA Today. Bud had been official sponsor since 1998. "It feels like we are elevating our game," Coors cmo Andy England said. Coors was also official beer sponsor of NFL at that time.This week in 2009, consultant Joe Thompson noted that with beer biz down 1-2% in 2009 and megabrands "struggling," it had an "effect on valuation." As an industry, Joe didn't think "we're at the top of our game" in areas like "marketing effectiveness." AB was "cost-cutting and MC was still "getting their act together merging 2 cultures." So over 75% of the industry was "focused on basically itself" as they looked to "get themselves straightened out," instead of focusing on the consumer, Joe said. All this was occurring against backdrop of weak economy, "shrinking disposable income," more competition from other bevs, big cigarette tax hike, etc. These conditions "change people's perception of the business they're in" and makes potential distrib buyers "nervous." Joe said there was lotsa distrib volume for sale, 75-100 mil cases "you could buy if people want to buy. That's unheard of in this business" but "people put on the brakes."This week in 2010, Crown assessed distribs with an increased mktg fee. "We have stepped up our investment and need you, as our partner, to participate to further enhance these efforts to build brands," exec veeps Jim Sabia and Bruce Jacobson wrote distribs. Crown increased Wholesaler Marketing Commitment by 5 cents per case to 25 cents. That meant $7 mil or so would be going back to Crown in 2011. In 2011, "investment will be at "record levels.... Now is the time to invest to fully leverage this momentum to drive our mutual business!" This move likely wasn't very popular among distribs, especially those in East still stinging from 20 cent per case fee they were assessed when Crown first took over from Gambrinus, noted INSIGHTS.This week in 2015, INSIGHTS noted the deal for Dogfish Head to sell a 15% minority stake to private equity firm LNK Partners, was the fifth craft deal we reported on in Sep that yr. "That's gotta be a record," we noted. Transactions included everything from the groundbreaking 50/50 JV for Lagunitas and Heineken to AB buying Golden Road and most of Virtue Cider as well as MillerCoors buying vast majority of Saint Archer. Global brewing giants were spending big to get in on fast-growing segment. The Dogfish deal stood in stark contrast to most of those others, because it was selling just a small piece "with no pathway to control," founder Sam Calagione told us. But deal was significant too, precisely because Sam and Mariah Calagione prioritized staying "family controlled," hoping to pass their biz onto their children, viewing Sierra Nevada's Ken Grossman as a "touchstone" in terms of carrying on into the next generation. And in LNK they found a private equity partner who takes minority stakes 50% of the time, usually $50-$150 million and sez "we do not run companies." Recall, Dogfish later sold to Boston Beer in May 2019.

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