Legislative, Government Affairs & Legal Updates

Stay informed on the latest beer industry, legislative, government affairs and legal news, including updates on the Brewers Association and NBWA. Understand the evolving beverage alcohol regulatory and legal environment that can directly impact your distribution, retail efforts, intellectual property, packaging and ingredients.

Submit Legislative News
If you have insights into recent regulatory or legislative news related to the beer or beverage-alcohol industry, please submit your news to your team.

Featured Legislative, Government Affairs & Legal Updates Content

Craft Navigating a ‘Perfect Storm’ of Waning Consumer Demand, Distributor Disinterest and Dried-Up Draft Sales

Craft Navigating a ‘Perfect Storm’ of Waning Consumer Demand, Distributor Disinterest and Dried-Up Draft Sales

Craft beer has entered “no to negative growth territory,” Brewers Association (BA) chief economist Bart Watson said during a year-end webinar last week. “We were in double-digit growth as recently as 2014, 2015, and then we moved into kind of a more developed, slow, single-digit growth rate,” Watson said. “COVID hit, and we had the worst year in craft history in 2020 with a partial bounce back in 2021.

Incoming NBWA Chairman: ‘We Must Control Our Own Destiny’

Incoming NBWA Chairman: ‘We Must Control Our Own Destiny’

Incoming National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) chairman Jim Fabianao II stressed that distributors “must control our own destiny,” in his first speech during Tuesday’s Annual Convention general session in Las Vegas.

Additional Content

‘Hemp Is Back’ in NY As Judge Backs Injunction

‘Hemp Is Back’ in NY As Judge Backs Injunction

In a significant win for the burgeoning industry, the New York Supreme Court ordered yesterday a preliminary injunction against the emergency measures that abruptly halted the sale of hemp-derived THC-infused products in August

FTC Seeks Enforcement of Investigative Demand Against Total Wine

FTC Seeks Enforcement of Investigative Demand Against Total Wine

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and national bev-alc retailer Total Wine & More are at odds over the chain’s participation in the government agency’s investigation of multi-state wine and spirits wholesaler Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits.

NBWA CEO: Beer Category Health Top Concern Among Beer Distributors, Industry at a Crossroads

NBWA CEO: Beer Category Health Top Concern Among Beer Distributors, Industry at a Crossroads

The health of the beer category is the top concern across all distributor networks “by a significant margin,” per a biannual survey conducted by the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA), president and CEO Craig Purser shared in his remarks during the opening General Session of the trade group’s 2023 Annual Convention.

Coca-Cola Leadership: Soda Giant Not Interested in Being a Bev-Alc Distributor

Coca-Cola Leadership: Soda Giant Not Interested in Being a Bev-Alc Distributor

The Coca-Cola Company is “not here to crash [beer distributors’] party,” Dan White, Coca-Cola, North America chief of new revenue streams, said in a fireside chat with National Beer Wholesaler Association (NBWA) president and CEO Craig Purser Monday during the NBWA’s annual convention.

Inflation Outpaces At-The-Brewery Sales; Beer’s Share Declining

Inflation Outpaces At-The-Brewery Sales; Beer’s Share Declining

At-the-brewery sales from January to May 2023 increased +2.6% compared to the same period in 2022, according to Arryved POS data parsed by Brewers Association (BA) chief economist Bart Watson in a recent blog post. However, sales increased at about half the rate of inflation, which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) tracked at… Read more »