Month: January 2014
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This band of brothers…….
My first summer on a beer truck, 1969, was also the last year Pearl Beer was the number one selling beer in Texas. Pearl had been in that top position for the previous 15 years, but their biggest markets were all in south Texas. That summer, the brewery workers at AB had gone out on […]
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Is it the beginning of the end, or the end of the beginning…..
Recently published IRI data for Portland, Oregon shows craft beers at a 49% share of market! Along with crafts, imports are at 11% and ciders at 6% share. High-end beers are at an amazing 66% share of market! By the end of 2015, total high-end beers will be well over 70% share. Obviously, the domestic premium […]
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Be different. Be better. Or be cheaper…….
If there was ever a city that could be called an incubator for craft beers, it would be Portland, Oregon. When I was with Coast Distributors in the late 80s, crafts were at a one percent share. Now crafts are over 30% share in volume, and over 40% share in dollars. More than ten years […]
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Old soldiers never die; they just fade away……
Many of the salesmen I rode with while working on a Coors truck during my college years were Korean War vets, but the majority of the managers were World War II vets. Likewise, the sales manager at Schepps Distributing during my tenure was a bomber pilot during WWII. These vets were all professionals and very hard […]