| Craft Beer Means Better Business A good craft beer selection has become a key ingredient to restaurant success according to a new survey by consulting firm Technomic. The study showed that craft beer selection alone is enough to draw 49% of consumers to a restaurant! Additionally, more than half of those survey agreed a wide variety of craft beer is an important factor in getting them through the door of any licensed establishment, whether it's a casual dining stop or a high-end beer bar. In surveying a nationally representative sample of 500 adults who bought beer away from home in the past 30 days, Technomic also found that those high-end beer bars only rank third as a destination for beer drinkers, behind casual dining restaurants and regular bars with mainstream fare. |
Beer Fights Wall Street Beer lobbyists have started a fight with Wall Street over an aluminum market rigged to, according to them, line the pockets of big banks. The claim is that the London Metal Exchange runs a very complicated aluminum market worldwide and that metal users have complained for years about banks and trading firms role in the London Metal Exchange's warehouse system. They argue that storage owners intentionally create bottlenecks and artificially raise the prices of metals. Of all the metals being manipulated aluminum leads the way, say the beer lobbyists. This complaint has fell on deaf ears until recently when representatives from the Beer Institute, MillerCoors, The American Beverage Association and others met with staffers at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Their combined influence achieved results - an investigation co-opted by the Department of Justice. The investigation proved fruitful as the Metal Exchange created a rule meant to expedite the process for metal users trying to acquire aluminum. The issue of price manipulation was however tabled leading the Beer Institute to begin new lobbying efforts for further reform. -------------------- Walmart Beer Explodes Walmart, the largest retailer in the world, has said it wants to double its alcohol sales by 2016. They are targeting beer to lead the way. The company is hoping to great a significant chunk of the off-premise US beer market which stands at nearly $30 billion a year. To solidify its commitment, Walmart has added over 100,000 square feet of refrigerated space across its 3.500 locations that sell alcohol in the past 18 months. Much of that space will likely be dedicated to selling larger domestic brands from Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors, and major imports ranging from Heineken and Crown, however Walmart representatives stated that they will make a serious effort to improve and expand their offerings of craft beers. |
| Feature News from beernexus.com |
Edited by Jim Attacap
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| Screw Top Cans Anheuser Busch is soon to begin rolling out Bud LIght in screw-top aluminum bottles for the first time as the brewer seeks to stabilize the waning brand in the US where consumers are turning to craft beers and other beverages in big numbers.A-B has invested $150 million to create the new packaging, a 16-ounce resealable light metal bottle. The company will back up the new bottle with Super Bowl advertising early next year. A-B hopes consumers see the bottle as more premium and more refreshing. The bottle itself uses less aluminum than traditional cans. Market testing showed that male drinkers especially liked to play with the screw-top and enjoyed the "trust me, I like it" flag on the bottleneck. Bud Light did gain share in the third quarter of 2013 according to A-B despite the fact that sales to retailers fell 3.3%. Bud LIght has about 28% of the US retail beer market, with its next closest competitor, Coors LIght, at 8% |