Justin Kendall provides daily coverage of the beer industry on Brewbound.com, conducts live-streamed interviews during Brewbound’s events and co-produces the Brewbound podcast. Kendall is a nearly 20-year career journalist who led alt-weekly newspapers in Kansas City, Missouri, and Des Moines, Iowa.
In this week’s edition of Last Call: A New York distributor was fined $4.3 million in a bottle return scam; TTB says no to controlled substances in beer; Owens-Illinois announces plans to close its Atlanta facility;
After about six months as CEO, David Pillsbury is leaving Canarchy Craft Brewery Collective — Oskar Blues’ and Fireman Capital Partners’ consortium of beer companies formed following investments in Cigar City Brewing, Perrin Brewing and Utah Brewers Cooperative — according to a press release.
During its annual staff summit earlier this week, Great Lakes Brewing Co. owners Pat and Dan Conway announced that the company would be starting an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), giving workers a minority stake in the company.
In the latest Legislative Update: Vermont approves franchise law reform; Kansas legalizes contract brewing; Colorado sets guidelines for full-strength beer sales in grocery and convenience stores; and more news from the states.
Nearly two years after the Department of Justice (DOJ) signed off on Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (ABI) $100 billion takeover of SABMiller, the government agency still has not completed its review of the merger. The DOJ and ABI filed a joint motion on March 15 asking U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan to approve the “proposed final judgment.” However, several groups have objected to the judgment, as it is currently written, and are now seeking a hearing in order to resolve anti-competitive concerns.
In the continued fallout of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on foreign aluminum and steel, the Beer Institute (BI) is now calling on the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate anticompetitive activity in the aluminum market.
In this week’s edition of Last Call: International M&A heats up with Heineken, Pernod and Constellation; Rebecca Spicer to depart the NBWA; Michigan Senators vote to outlaw marijuana-infused alcoholic drinks; Sonoma County tallies the economic impact of Pliny the Younger; and more.
Chicago-based e-commerce marketplace Provi today announced the completion of a $3.5 million funding round. Provi, which aggregates distributor inventories and serves as a one-stop shop for retailers to search and place alcohol orders, has now raised $5 million via two funding rounds with an investor list that includes Hyde Park Angels, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Ludlow Ventures, and Sandalphon Capital, among others.
A lawsuit brought by two North Carolina breweries that challenges the constitutionality of the state’s distribution laws is inching toward a trial. Last Thursday, Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour denied the state’s motions to dismiss the case or send it to a three-judge panel. A trial date has not been set.
Molson Coors Brewing Co. chairman Pete Coors is grabbing headlines for the second consecutive week. Last Monday, Coors issued an “open letter” to the Brewers Association, chastising the trade group’s leaders over negative comments made about “big beer” during the annual Craft Brewers Conference. Now, Coors has scored himself an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, and he’s turned his focus toward President Donald Trump and a recently imposed 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum.
When John McDonald founded Boulevard Brewing Company in 1989, he never envisioned that the company would grow to 178,000 barrels and sell beer in 40 states. You can listen to McDonald discuss these topics, and more, on episode 111 of Taste Radio.
Nearly three years after being acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev, Los Angeles’ Golden Road Brewing is beginning to see the advantages of being owned by the world’s largest beer manufacturer. In the last six months, Golden Road has launched its flagship Wolf Pup Session IPA nationally, and opened a pair of satellite brewpubs in California. According to market research firm IRI Worldwide’s multi-outlet and convenience (MULC) universe of stores, sales of the company’s beer have increased 100 percent through April 29.
In this week’s edition of Last Call: Another brewery files for bankruptcy; Stone seeks to dismiss MillerCoors’ counterclaims; Tree House and Jester King announce expansion plans; BrewDog and Terrapin announce new hires; and more.
The Beer Institute (BI) is forecasting U.S. beer shipments to decline between one and three percent in 2018, chief economist Michael Uhrich shared during the national trade association’s “State of the Industry” webinar today.
