In-store displays “are more effective at selling beer” compared to “shrinking” shelf space, Kaumil Gajrawala, analyst for financial services firm Jefferies, wrote in a late June analysis.
Even as suppliers rush to produce hard seltzers, ready-to-drink canned cocktails and other so-called “fourth category” offerings, traditional beer remains a priority for Whole Foods Markets, according to Mary Guiver, the natural food chain’s global senior category merchant for beer and spirits.
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced most Americans to stay home except for essential errands last spring, on-demand alcohol delivery e-commerce platform Drizly’s sales skyrocketed. “We saw years’ worth of growth — five years’ worth of growth — in just a three-month timeframe,” Drizly chief operating officer Cathy Lewenberg said.
On the heels of the NCAA tournament’s opening week, Buffalo Wild Wings beverage product and program innovation manager Jason Murphy joins a special 60-minute “Retail Pulse” edition of Brewbound Frontlines to discuss the chicken wing chain’s 2021 mandate program, the importance of local beer to the sports bar’s menus and the increasing presence of hard seltzers and beyond beer offerings in the company’s stores.
East Coast gas and convenience store chain Cumberland Farms’ attempt to change Massachusetts’ off-premise retail chain licensing processes is being met with opposition from the state’s alcoholic beverage package stores.
A growing number of consumers are turning to online ordering and delivery apps, executives from top on- and off-premise retailers shared during Beer Business Daily’s Beer Industry Summit earlier this week.
Flavored malt beverages have delivered more dollar sale growth in the off-premise retail channel than any other segment in the beer category in 2019, according to market research firm IRI. Innovation leaders from Molson Coors, Deschutes Brewery and beer-driven on-premise chain Taco Mac discussed the shifting beer category during the Brewbound Live business conference.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court last week overturned a lower court ruling that would have allowed retailers to offer discounts on alcoholic beverages purchased in bulk. The order comes two years after Maryland’s Total Wine & More (doing business as Massachusetts Fine Wines & Spirits LLC) successfully challenged the law.
In this week’s edition of Last Call: Brewers Association CEO Bob Pease weighs in on the Boston Beer-Dogfish Head deal; Rob Tod wins a James Beard award; Bell’s and Loveland head to arbitration; the Texas Senate strips to-go-sales amendment from a bill; and more industry news.
A century after the ratification of Prohibition, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could have wide-ranging effects on the three-tier system. On Wednesday, the court heard arguments in Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association vs. Blair. At issue in the case is the constitutionality of the state of Tennessee’s two-year residency requirement for obtaining a liquor license. Additionally, the state requires a decade of residency for the renewal of liquor licenses, which expire after one year.
More than a year after launching beer deliveries throughout Phoenix, Arizona, Pizza Hut today announced plans to expand the service into 1,000 stores by mid-2019. The national pizza chain, owned by Yum Brands, said it would expand its beer delivery service into five new states — Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina and Ohio — by mid-January.
Cincinnati’s Fifty West Brewing Company has quickly established itself as brand to watch. The Ohio-based craft brewery, which opened its doors in 2012, topped market research firm IRI’s list of new vendors in supermarkets, with off-premise dollar sales of nearly $214,000, for the 27 weeks ending July 8, IRI director of client insights Patrick Livingston shared during last month’s Brewers Association Power Hour.
Buffalo Wild Wings’ presence at the 2018 Great American Beer Festival was merely an appetizer. The chicken wing restaurant, one of the largest chains in the U.S., will be regular menu item at numerous Brewers Association (BA) events over the next two years, including the 2019 GABF, the Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) and Homebrew Con. Its presence at additional BA events is part of a three-year sponsorship agreement with the trade group, Buffalo Wild Wings beverage innovation manager Jason Murphy told Brewbound.
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.
BevMo! customers can now go directly from online to no line with the introduction of a new curbside delivery program being tested at two of the West Coast beverage retailer’s Bay Area stores.
