1st BATCH OF FILES AVAILABLE NOW!

This week in 2001, Molson prexy Dan O'Neal shared a blunt assessment of how co faltered with Molson brand in US at a UBS Warburg mtg. "We let the brand die. We did a lousy job advertising, lousy on-premise" efforts, he said. Current ads "quite embarrassing" and rolled out too late, tho he was confident in new creative coming out in the next week. Co also hired 53 "Molson specific" salespeople to help turn trends around. Dan acknowledged Molson was still working out kinks shifting to Coors distribution. He said logistics problems that led co to be 130 orders behind in Aug were not Coors fault. "This just can't happen anymore," said Dan. This week in 2003, Boston Beer won an important arbitration ruling against Miller Brewing. Not only did Miller have to stick to contract with Boston Beer to brew its brands (about 20-30% of Boston's volume) but also had to pay Boston's legal fees/expenses associated with arbitration. In 2002, Miller filed request with American Arbitration Assn seeking to terminate contract production for Boston by May 30, 2004. Miller made Boston brands in Eden, NC and Tumwater, WA plants; it closed Tumwater plant in July 2003. But panel ruled Miller "not entitled to early termination," Boston announced. Legal fees/expenses not disclosed, but Boston 3d qtr report said that "general and administrative expenses for the quarter increased $951,000&hellip;primarily due to legal fees and related expenses incurred during the 3d quarter 2003 in connection with the arbitration proceedings with Miller." Boston produced over 40% of 2002 volume in its Cincinnati brewery. Rest was made by Miller, High Falls, City and Matt Brewing. Boston bought PA facility from Diageo in 2008 and began shifting much of its production there since.This week in 2006, a second shoe dropped after investigation of illegal mktg practices by suppliers, distribs and retailers selling wine/liquor in NY. Fifteen suppliers agreed to pay $2.3 mil to settle charges of illegal payoffs, gifts and free product provided to "favored retailers." Several big NY alcohol distribs had already settled for $1.6 mil. Suppliers paid more, tho they engaged in illegal practices "to a substantially lesser degree," AG announced. In fact, wine/liquor distribs provided over $50 mil worth of no-nos from 2003-2005, AG figures; suppliers ponied up over $9 mil. Suppliers included all of the biggies: Diageo, Bacardi, Gallo, Constellation, etc.Beer wasn't involved in this investigation, but state liquor authority also recently "communicated" tougher stance on interpretation of rules for beer sales goin' forward. NY distrib and ex-NBWA chmn Jeff Vukelic sent letter to all of his retailers "to clarify how we will continue to do business." Included: no gifts, no cash, no free goods, no free ads, no exterior signs. Distribs can pick up close-to-code and out-of-code beer and replace it, but it can't be "credited to prevent consignment sales." NY law also prohibited "discriminatory pricing": Jeff sought more clarity from SLA on how it defined discrimination.This week in 2011, Yuengling launch in Ohio was a huge early hit, noted INSIGHTS. There were several media reports on the outsized demand at the time, including one noting part of OH wouldn't get Yuengling packaging until mid-Nov (instead of Oct 31st) because of "sky high demand" elsewhere in state. Cleveland "sales alone doubling projections," Heidelberg Dist's Rob VanMetre told Dayton Biz Jnl. "It was kind of hard to foresee&hellip;overwhelming response" in northern OH. This kind of coverage led INSIGHTS to call Yuengling coo Dave Casinelli, who said rollout so far has "far exceeded" expectations. Ten days later, INSIGHTS revisited story and it appeared that OH "could be most successful rollout in beer biz in decades," we wrote. New details kept comin' in. Heidelberg Dist had to hire 20 additional people to help with Yuengling intro in Dayton and Cincy, ceo Vail Miller Jr told Dayton Daily News. House of LaRose first mo was triple expectations in northern OH, ceo Jim LaRose told Newsnet 5.This week in 2012, at biz mtg during NBWA, HUSA prexy Dolf van den Brink told distribs his co was very "passionate" about its current portfolio and reputation, while it had just 4% share in US. It is "only thanks to the accessibility" provided by 3-tier system "that we are in business and thriving. In any other country, we would have been pushed out." So HUSA has "vested interest in a sustaining and prevailing" 3-tier system. The system has its challenges, but "we need to address [them] in a constructive way.... HUSA wants to focus on convincing distributors we have a portfolio that will generate long-term profitable growth...rather than be distracted" by other issues, he said. Upscale beer remained the "right place to play" in US, insisted Dolf, growing 5-7% per yr even thru economic crisis. And there was still headroom compared to high-end&#39;s share of wine/spirits biz, he noted. In upscale mkt 10 yrs prior, Heineken and Corona held 60-70 share, and there was "long tail" of players without scale or power. By 2012, every major brewer played in upscale and "duopoly" had turned into a "battlefield," with # of SKUs doubling every 5 yrs.

Flashback Friday

Publishing Info