Beer Business Unplugged

I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to either work for, or with, many of the industries leaders in all segments: supplier, wholesaler and even retail.  When I first started out, many industry leaders were part of the “greatest generation” and veterans of World War II.  Today, many on the supplier side, are young entrepreneurs, some very successful, some just starting to sell beer.  Even at the wholesaler level the next generation(s) are taking their place in family owned companies.  These leaders  on the brewery and supplier side include, but are not limited to, Harry Jersig, Bill and Pete Coors, Russ Cleary, Peter Stroh, Jim Koch, Bill Hackett, Mike Mazzoni, Frank Spinosa, Carlos Alvarez, Jack Joyce, Diane Fall, Albert Cramer, Lutz Issleib, Stan Mace, Glenn McDonald, Mike Mitaro, and Kim Jordan.  Obviously, I could also go on with hundreds of names’ of leaders of distributorships I have known.

As a young man in the beer business, I watched how these people led their companies and I followed how well they did.  Of course, some were more successful than others.   I also studied their failures, too.  As the years went by, I watched with less interest in their successes or failures, but was more in tune with how the companies I was responsible for responded under my leadership.

With that in mind, this past year, I read multiple books about the great American Generals and Admirals of WWII.  Some of the generals that I studied in detail were, Patton, Nimitz, Leahy, Hasley, and King.  Others that I did not spend as much time researching were Bradley, Rommel and Eisenhower.  I was interested in what made these leaders great.  Was there a common thread each exhibited?

One thing I saw that separated these leaders from others was their willingness to take risks.  They put themselves out there, time after time, sometimes failing, but they always did what had to be done and did not take the easy way.  When you look at the word “leadership,” each of these great generals had the ability to make others admire them. Additional qualities each of these great leaders possessed included:  a commanding presence, the ability to communicate effectively in front of all parties,  and of course, they all followed the timeless adage that adversity doesn’t build one’s character,  adversity reveals one’s character.

As of late, there has been much discussion on  the beer industries leaders or, lack thereof.  Why is that?  There have been some thoughts that it is due, in part, to the large breweries being managed by foreign  interests.  Perhaps it is the self-interests of senior management,  and if it is, is it entirely their fault?   Do today’s leaders really have the experience or skill sets that are needed?  For many people, twenty years of experience is really one year of experience repeated twenty times!   Do these leaders really know the business from the ground floor up?

While I was at Warsteiner, the company brought in a new export sales director who had no knowledge or understanding of the industry, just a model idea of what he thought the business model should have been.  This individual didn’t last long, but the damaged was done. The question remains, what makes a great leader?  Or as my ex boss used to say, “fish rot from the head.”

Almost every small south Texas town annually hosts a local event which helps foster community in that town.  Most events are either rodeos or festivals which emphasize what the town is known for, like the Watermelon Festival in Luling, Texas or the Poteet Strawberry Festival in Poteet, Texas.  The three largest rodeos in Texas are the Ft. Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, and the largest in the world, The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.  Because these events attracted thousands of people from across the state and nation, the local beer companies would compete to buy the grand champion livestock.  Schlitz, the largest selling brand for years,  always bought the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo champion, and at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, either Lone Star or Pearl purchased the champion livestock since these breweries were headquartered there.  The animals typically were raised by local high school kids who used the money earned from the sale to pay for college tuition.  The animal was typically donated to an orphanage.

The Rio Grande Valley Livestock show was the biggest event in my area, and annually, in conjunction with the Pearl Brewing Co., we purchased the Grand Champion pig and would donate it to the boys’ home in the Valley.  Every year I’d get a letter from the young owner of the Grand Champion pig thanking me and Pearl for helping finance his/her college education.

I never sponsored any of these events with the thought of “selling” more beer, I did it because it was the right thing to do for the community that we embodied.  I believe that almost all distributors feel this way when sponsoring an event of this nature.  It is the right thing to do when we can help people in the community we serve.

The three-tier system provides many services for our industry.  As we know, the three-tier system is under attack from many critics either directly involved in the industry, politicians or the media.  In defending the three-tier system, the industry has emphasized such benefits as:  quality control for fresher beer; efforts to eliminate under age drinking and DUI enforcement, and, of course; effective service to the retail trade.  While all of these planks support the three-tier system, perhaps the community support distributors provide is the most important platform for the three-tier argument.

I once knew a Miller distributor who had, for the second time become the dominate distributor. He first success was with Falstaff.  This gentleman refused to support anything in the community.  In his opinion, supporting community events was not important.  He assumed Miller would die, as had Falstaff and why waste the time and money.  He has been long gone from the business.  It’s funny how those who support the market are ones usually doing very well.

Whether it’s a rodeo or a festival, or even a German Oktoberfest (best kind of special event), the local distributor involvement makes it special.  I look back with great fondness on those letters from the young future farmers who thanked me for buying their livestock.   Those letters are really a small act of kindness!