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Big Beer dresses up in craft brewers' clothing
Posted on 11/16/12 at 8:39 am
Posted on 11/16/12 at 8:39 am
Interesting Article. Sheds some insight to those that don't understand why we craft beer enthusiasts and home brewers don't like BMC (Bud, Miller, Coors)
LINK
Gee, an AB rep thinks craft beer has "a little more flavor", and that's what makes it a craft beer. I'm not surprised.
I guarantee within 3 years, goose island will be a former shell of what it used to be.
Another bit of misinformation to feed the uninformed masses. Craft brewers did not come from AB, some may have, but majority have been home brewers.
LINK
quote:
What's noteworthy about these forays into the craft segment is the way these brands are purposely distanced from their Big Beer parents. You won't find the Coors name on a bottle of Blue Moon. Rather, you see the name Blue Moon Brewing Company. The same goes for a bottle of Anheuser-Busch's Shock Top. To distance their craft products from their billion-dollar household brands, the big brewers have gone so far as to create separate divisions to house their specialty brands: MillerCoors has created Tenth & Blake Beer Company while Anheuser Busch (BUD) has the Green Valley Brewery.
quote:
"We kind of look at allowing the consumer to define what he considers craft beer. As we look at our businesses, craft generally refers to beers that basically provide a little bit more flavor intensity and a little bit more distinctiveness in regards to experimentation and styles."
Gee, an AB rep thinks craft beer has "a little more flavor", and that's what makes it a craft beer. I'm not surprised.
quote:
Yet Anheuser-Busch sees it as a win-win for the brewery and the drinker. "We were very impressed over the years with the amazing reputation of the Goose Island brand," says Paul Chibe, Anheuser-Busch's vice president of marketing. "And that brand was built upon extraordinary beer with amazing innovation. And what we've been is an enabler. So as Goose Island has needed capacity, we've given them the capacity. The thing that people can be confident in is that the Goose Island brewers are still the ones leading the brewery."
I guarantee within 3 years, goose island will be a former shell of what it used to be.
quote:
Chibe argues that critics of Anheuser-Busch fail to see the big picture. "You go look at the craft brewers -- how many of them are former Anheuser-Busch people? I think there's a bit of pride on our part in that we are able to be the school for many craft brewers that started their careers here … and they're bringing that great tradition to the craft industry."
Another bit of misinformation to feed the uninformed masses. Craft brewers did not come from AB, some may have, but majority have been home brewers.
quote:
That distribution system is a complex one, with a tangle of varying state regulations, some of which date back to the repeal of prohibition. Most states operate on a three-tier system of brewer, distributor, and retailer. This system was created after prohibition to prevent an imbalance of power, specifically from allowing the bigger breweries of the time from manhandling small mom-and-pop bars.
quote:
Based on that goal, the system works. But the middle tier -- the wholesalers -- are not nearly as independent as intended and are often in the pocket of the big brewers. Getting access to the market is tightly controlled by the powerful players. As many people I spoke to put it, the big brewers will "ask" their wholesalers to focus more on their portfolio of products. This pressure takes many forms, but as an in-depth investigation by Crain's Chicago Business found in 2010, it is sometimes in the form of illegal pay-to-play practices. And even though some wholesalers may see opportunity to grow their business by pushing more craft brands, they also know better than to bite the hand that feeds them.
quote:
"Anheuser Busch can snap their fingers and the distribution network will get it on shelves and get it on tap handles and knock off other brewers who have been on those tap handles," says the Brewer's Association's Gatza. "In an ideal world, those decisions would be made by the beer drinker…
6
Posted on 11/16/12 at 8:46 am to BugAC
quote:
And the powerful lobbying of the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) works hard to keep things as they are. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the NBWA Political Action Committee contributed $2,721,000 to political candidates for the 2012 elections, the second most by any PAC.
quote:
On tap at the local pub were the usual suspects: Bud, Miller, Coors, and maybe an import like Heineken. In 1979, there were 44 brewing companies in the U.S. Today, there are 2,126. For the most part, there was one kind of beer available: what is derided in craft circles as "fizzy yellow beer" -- also known as "adjunct" or "corn" lagers. Adjunct refers to the addition of cheap ingredients (corn, rice) to lighten a beer's taste or lower production costs. Adjunct lagers are the boxed-wine of the craft beer world.
quote:
Federal restrictions on home brewing were lifted in 1978, leading to increased amateur experimentation. Meanwhile, a handful of pioneering breweries demonstrated the viability of craft beer as a regional business. In 1984, Jim Koch founded The Boston Beer Company and started brewing Samuel Adams Boston Lager, the beer that arguably kicked off the craft beer renaissance of the 1990s. "You gotta remember, this was a totally different world," says Koch. "In 1984, if you were an American beer drinker, you could not get a great glass of beer. You could get mass-produced beers, which are fine for what they are, but they're not trying to be great."
quote:
A Harvard grad, Koch (no relation to Greg Koch, mentioned above) left a job at Boston Consulting Group to pursue his family trade. Koch's grandfather was a brewmaster at Anheuser-Busch. "My personal experience with them began in January of 1996. In 1996, they began a yearlong, full-scale attack campaign focused on doing as much damage as they could do to my business. And it began with kicking us out of virtually all of the Anheuser-Busch wholesalers. And then they started a PR campaign, which attacked Sam Adams."
quote:
The story illustrates what Jim Koch sees as a cultural difference between the craft industry and the big brewers. "Their view of business is not cooperative or collaborative. Craft brewers are very different." Citing an example, Jim Koch says that in light of a current shortage of certain types of hops needed for specific beer styles, his company decided to share some of its excess inventory. "We gave up some of these scarce hops so that 200 other craft brewers could make more of their beer, in a sense compete with us, and that mentality is completely foreign to big companies."
A good reason why i love craft beer.
quote:
Less diplomatic, but more succinct, Stone Brewing Company's Greg Koch puts it this way: "If you want to listen to Milli Vanilli., I suppose that's a choice you get to make. Just know that you're making that choice."
Posted on 11/16/12 at 8:50 am to BugAC
quote:
Craft brewers did not come from AB, some may have, but majority have been home brewers.
In St Louis there has been quite a few craft breweries pop up lately that were started by former AB people. I look at it differently than AB does though. They think it's a product of their training that allowed it to happen. I see it as, they've got the resources and talent to do better, but they actively choose not to, which is why those people left and started the craft breweries.
But I would think you are correct as far as numbers go. I doubt there were even enough AB employees to start the amount of craft breweries that there are all over the country.
Posted on 11/16/12 at 9:10 am to BugAC
Read that one yesterday, and it's a great article. It goes hand in hand with the Beer Wars documentary from a few years back.
Unfortunately, most consumers just don't care. They think beer = Bud, Miller, or Coors. The marketing machine has won them over and nothing is going to convince them otherwise.
Unfortunately, most consumers just don't care. They think beer = Bud, Miller, or Coors. The marketing machine has won them over and nothing is going to convince them otherwise.
Posted on 11/16/12 at 10:42 am to BugAC
I think this is going to be great for Goose Island's business...
New CEO.
Probably doesn't have the slightest idea of what makes a beer but they'll probably have some "funny" commercials on the superbowl.
New CEO.
quote:
Since 1995, Mr. Goeler has held various positions in the Sales and Marketing Divisions at A-B, including responsibility for managing the marketing efforts behind A-B’s flagship brands, Budweiser and Bud Light.
Probably doesn't have the slightest idea of what makes a beer but they'll probably have some "funny" commercials on the superbowl.
Posted on 11/16/12 at 11:42 am to BugAC
Good article, but I can only blame BMC so much. Really it comes down to the customer and what they "enjoy." Ultimately, the success of BMC has more to do with consumers' lack of taste and/or knowledge of what good beer is and less to do with fraudulent marketing strategies.
Posted on 11/17/12 at 12:45 am to BugAC
The attacks in this thread seem to be aimed at the big three while giving the distributors a pass. There is a lot of big talk about how people boycott the big 3 and their products because of their bullying tactics, but you patronize the hit man carrying out the tactics.
You can fault AB for throwing Bud out there and strong arming a distributor, then think you are punishing Bud by giving more business to the distributor. The distributor feels no pain and has no reason to change his ways. His supplier is happy, his buyer is happy.
Some appear to have separated the two and justified the boycott against the Big 3 because in reality you can go without their product(s). However, if you cut off the distributors you are left with just a handful of brews from the small "independent" distributors. This is too much of a hit to take.
So, many seem content to sit high on their horse and preach about how they cannot support a system that hurts the small guy, but will not shut them out completely as long as they get the benefits they want from the system.
You can fault AB for throwing Bud out there and strong arming a distributor, then think you are punishing Bud by giving more business to the distributor. The distributor feels no pain and has no reason to change his ways. His supplier is happy, his buyer is happy.
Some appear to have separated the two and justified the boycott against the Big 3 because in reality you can go without their product(s). However, if you cut off the distributors you are left with just a handful of brews from the small "independent" distributors. This is too much of a hit to take.
So, many seem content to sit high on their horse and preach about how they cannot support a system that hurts the small guy, but will not shut them out completely as long as they get the benefits they want from the system.
This post was edited on 11/17/12 at 1:24 am
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