Month: March 2017
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If you want to change things, it requires bravery..
When the G. Heileman Brewing Co. was riding its crest of success, their business model was simple. Heileman’s portfolio was predominantly regional brands which the company expanded nationally. They assigned various brands in in the market to different wholesalers, therefore, if a market had four wholesalers, all four might have a Heileman brand. The wholesalers […]
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Your life works to the degree that you keep your agreements..
Columbia Distributing was formed with the merger of three Northwest beer and wine houses, one of which was Mt. Hood Beverage. Mt. Hood Beverage was formed when Dick Lytle purchased Coast Distributors in 1990, at which time I was the General Manager for Coast. Coast, which had existed for over 100 years, was one of […]
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A fool can throw a stone in a pond that a 100 wise men cannot get out..
Miller Lite was the first line extension introduced in the early 1970s. Lite’s success was soon followed in the mid-1970s by Coors Light and Bud Light. These three brands created an entirely new category, and as successful as they were, these three brands not only replaced their mother-brands, they surpassed them. The term “cannibalized the […]
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The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly..
The basic premise as to what drives volume in the beer industry is twofold: it is either through media or through price discounting, with a combination of both being the ideal situation. That being said, over the last 10 years, both AB and MC have lost millions of barrels and substantial market share. The reason, […]