Zoe Licata joined Brewbound in 2021 after several years of freelance reporting and documentary work. She’s a Massachusetts native, guinea pig for bev-alc innovation and savant in Gen Z culture.
Trade groups across beer and spirits continue to fight over whether spirits-based, ready-to-drink canned cocktails (RTDs) should be taxed at the same as malt-based alternatives. The argument came to a head this month when Public Sector Consultants (PSC), a Lansing, Michigan-based public policy consulting firm, released a study claiming decreased excise tax rates for spirits-based RTDs have cost consumers more on shelf.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for beer away from home increased +7% in October 2022 compared to October 2021, the largest price increase ever recorded for the category, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Don’t discount alcohol and make sure you have an attorney. That was the core advice from legal experts during the Massachusetts Brewers Guild’s (MBG) Mass Brewers Conference Monday.
Alcohol e-commerce platform Drizly announced a “new brand direction” this week, featuring a “redesigned product experience” and expanded shipping capabilities, as it celebrates a decade in business.
American Canning, an Austin, Texas-based aluminum can and packaging supplies provider, has signed a supply agreement with global can manufacturer Ball Corp. as an “official distributor” of blank and printed brite cans.
Molson Coors CEO Gavin Hattersley declared the U.S. consumer “remains resilient,” as trade up to premium offerings continues and there aren’t signs of “significant channel shifting,” during the beverage-alcohol producer’s Q2 earnings report today.
Regulators from the federal agencies that oversee taxation and alcohol regulation raided the Union City, California, offices of Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits yesterday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
While much of Boston Beer Company’s annual business plan (ABP) meeting with wholesalers Tuesday was dedicated to beyond beer innovations (see yesterday’s coverage), “beer is still our middle name,” founder and chairman Jim Koch once again attempted to reassure everyone.
Traditional beer is expected to decline -2% in the next five years, Boston Beer founder and chairman Jim Koch told wholesalers Tuesday during the company’s annual business plan meeting with northeastern wholesalers. “We say a prayer for the big brewers because they’re the ones that really build the trucks that we can then fill out, but I think the reality is it will probably not grow in the lifetime of the people in this room,” he said.
San Diego-based JuneShine – a hard kombucha and ready-to-drink canned cocktail (RTD) maker – is on track to produce more than one million cases (about 72,580 barrels) in 2022.
Boston-based Trillium Brewing Company is consolidating its production in Massachusetts and offering its original Canton facility as a turnkey operation.
