NBWA

The nation’s beer wholesalers and beer industry executives will meet in Las Vegas this week for the National Beer Wholesalers Association’s (NBWA) annual convention, and the meeting’s arrival comes amid turbulence. Large wholesalers continue to consolidate within the middle tier, while at least one New England craft-focused wholesaler has thrown in the towel. The pace of consolidation chugs on even as President Joe Biden has tasked the Treasury with examining competition within the beer industry at large, and that’s led to comments from at least two trade groups calling into question these mergers’ effect on the competitive landscape.

The National Beer Wholesalers Association will require attendees of its annual convention and trade show to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative test before entering the event, scheduled to take place October 3-6 in Las Vegas.

Three out of five adults (60%) in the U.S. drink alcoholic beverages, according to a July poll from the analytics and advisory company Gallup, Inc.

Leaders from the Brewers Association (BA), Beer Institute (BI), and National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) submitted comments to Amy Greenberg, regulations and rulings division director of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), detailing each group’s purview of the market and specific requests that would benefit or mitigate harm against their respective members.

The National Beer Wholesalers Association’s (NBWA) monthly Beer Purchasers’ Index found that wholesalers are reporting smaller inventories of beer at risk of going out of code.

Beer industry depletions (sales-to-retailers) volumes tracked by beverage alcohol invoicing and logistics firm Fintech have increased 9% year-to-date through Week 27 compared to the same period last year, National Beer Wholesalers Association chief economist Lester Jones and Fintech director of distributors Jim Kallies shared yesterday during a quarterly review of the industry’s performance.

A nationwide truck driver shortage is causing headaches for several industries, including the beer industry. The U.S. pool of truck drivers with commercial drivers licenses (CDL) is 50,000-60,000 workers short of where it should be.

The positive velocity trends in on-premise retailers have carried over through the latest analysis from market research firm CGA.

The U.S. beer industry’s economic output has increased by $4 billion since 2018, which is equivalent to 1.6% of the U.S. gross domestic product, according to the “Beer Serves America” report — a biennial study commissioned by the Beer Institute (BI) and the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA).

Just days after an amendment to allow shipping of alcoholic beverages via the United States Postal Service died, the legislation was resurrected as the “USPS Shipping Equity Act” and introduced into Congress on Monday.

Registration for the Brewers Association’s (BA) annual Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) and BrewExpo America opens Tuesday, May 4, and the trade group has provided an overview of safety measures for the trade show.

The National Beer Wholesaler Association’s (NBWA) annual legislative conference reconvened, albeit virtually, a year after the pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 event.

The loss of higher-margin on-premise consumption cost the beer industry more than $20 billion in 2020, National Beer Wholesalers Association chief economist Lester Jones reported yesterday during a webinar. “Volumes went up a little bit, maybe 0.5-1% up, but spending shifted dramatically,” Jones said. “

The COVID-19 pandemic driven shutdown of on-premise service at bars and restaurants led to a big but expected cut in draft packaging last year, according to the 2020 “Package Mix Report” shared by the Beer Institute and compiled by the National beer Wholesalers Association’s Department of Industry Affairs.