Editor’s Note: These items appeared in Brewbound Insider Newsletter between October 13-16.
Garage Beer’s Jason Kelce Beams into NBWA Convention
Garage Beer co-owner Jason Kelce made a surprise cameo Tuesday during Day 2 of the NBWA’s Annual Convention in Las Vegas.
The retired Philadelphia Eagles star preached making beer fun again and using it as a vehicle for engaging with friends, family members and even strangers during a video chat with NBWA president and CEO Craig Purser and newly minted board chair Steve Beykirch of Eagle Distributing Company in Kansas.
“Life is about the human connection, and there’s few things that are involved more with bringing communities together, bringing people together that solve the world’s problems over a nice cold can of beer,” Kelce said.
Purser asked Kelce for tips on helping reverse the beer category’s soft trends. Kelce responded that he’s not an expert in business but he believes people get too caught up with trying to make money and hit different metrics and lose track “of what beer is and really what it has been for so many years, for so many different cultures.”
He continued: “That’s a commonality, it’s an accessibility, it’s a way for people to connect and to spark conversation and to spark friendship, spark some type of connection.
“That’s the biggest thing we should all be preaching right now. We should all be enjoying beer with our friends. And if we get to doing that, it will take care of itself.”
Notable/Quotable: Hemp Beverage Alliance Leaders on Bans, Tax Revenue
‘You Can’t Legislate Away Demand’
– Michelle Bodian, Hemp Beverage Alliance general counsel, during Tuesday morning’s session on hemp beverages
“Instead, we’re looking to set up a regulatory framework that works for the category,” she added.
The comments come amid regulatory pressures in states such as Ohio, where Gov. Mike DeWine issued an executive order temporarily banning intoxicating hemp beverages. On Tuesday, a Franklin County court judge reportedly issued a 14-day temporary restraining order blocking the ban, leading to intoxicating hemp beverage sales resuming in the state.
Bodian explained that the trade organization welcomes “testing, labeling, licensure, taxation – all of that, but certainly that would be our preference over a ban.”
‘We’re Seeing Increasingly an Embrace of This Product as a Tax Revenue Generator’
– Hemp Beverage Alliance executive director Christopher Lackner during a morning session at the NBWA Annual Convention.
“We all know states are struggling financially to fix budget shortfalls. We know tax receipts for adult beverages are down in a lot of places.
“States are looking to fill those gaps, and what we’ve seen in a lot of states is, how do we create a regulatory framework for this category so that the state can generate some revenue? The state of Michigan in particular, has been very upfront about this. … They point blank asked us, ‘How much of a gap can you fill in our budget with these products?’”
Lackner said the answer to that question is “how big you open the market,” with more open markets equaling more tax revenues.
“So we are increasingly seeing an interest from regulatory agencies at the state level finding a way to create a framework that not only creates a public safety net so that nobody gets over their skis or whatever, but also maximizes the opportunity for the state to gather revenue.”
Parting Shots: Boston Beer Social Pop
Social Pop is no longer a mystery.
Boston Beer founder and CEO Jim Koch name dropped the brand in September, describing it as an alcoholic version of prebiotic soda Poppi during a fireside chat at the Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference.
The company is serving Social Pop samples – and an array of new offerings, including a resurrected hard green tea brand Wild Leaf – on the trade show floor of the NBWA’s Annual Convention in Las Vegas.
The 4% ABV “modern hard soda” comes in three flavors: Cherry Limeade, Strawberry Lemon and Orange Cream. It’s 100 calories with 5g of sugar with ingredients such as prickly pear cactus juice, turmeric extract, green tea extract and Himalayan pink salt. Available in 12 oz. can 6-packs now in Des Moines, Iowa, and Nashville, Tennessee.
A fourth flavor Wildberry Vanilla wasn’t available at the show.