Boycotting Is a Slippery Slope

I can respect that, a great site. Thanks.

 

Not sure what part of NC you are in but in my area, a bottle shop may have 15+ distributors so craft brewers have more options for distro than the majority of states.

That being said, you can bet your last nickel the PGA Champinship had all Adams distributing and the craft their-- you got it-- AbINBEV owned.

Predatory? not in an overt sense. Support for the lobbyists of large AB distributors to the speaker of the house to not allow a bill raise capacity for self distribution by brewers???........well you decide.

 

See most of the beer consumption is done by 95% of the public. They think Bud Light is just fine, Budweiser is fine, they like Corona. Lighter AALs is whst they want. They don't know who ABI is let alone care. The PGA guys are offering beers they know will easily sell, they're not thinking A super duper IPA or stouts. Most beer drinkers don't really give a shit, they want cheap lighter beers.

 

Your are correct --big AAL cans everywhere but when you go to the tent or box with craft offerings-- and there IS a market for this now at these events-- well you can guess what your choices are now-- Goose and Wicked Weed.

 

In on Weed, not on the GI stuff, 312 and Honkers suck. That's a GI problem those beers sucked before They were bought out.

 

If there were a tent at the PGA championship, one line with Bud Light and another line with Hop Drop n Roll, the Bud Light would outsell NDnR 20:1.

While this doesn't prove anything, you can use a venue as a reason for hating ABI

 

Agreed, not the end of the world. I certainly respect your right to run your business however you want to run it. And on a fundamental level, my original post in this thread was intended as a defense of business owners making decisions for the good of their own business--including taking ad revenue from ABI--because I grow weary of the demonization of what should be relatively non-controversial business decisions.

Admittedly, I did read between the lines a bit with the note about no longer doing business with ABI. Because whether it's technically a boycott or not, it has the same functional effect. I was happy that BA seemed to be backing off the anti-ABI streak that is fairly common around here, and then saddened by the fact that there wasn't really any backing off after all.

But at the end of the day, I am here because I enjoy the product you create/manage/curate. As long as that continues, I will be here, regardless of differences of opinion regarding business practices--those decisions are yours to make, no matter how I feel about. I feel the same way about brewers who get purchased by Big Beer--my bottom line concern is the product.

Genuine question: what do you see as those "clear, major differences"?

 

AB buying distributors and distributor incentive programs, as well as essentially buying many taps at bars is beyond what the others do in terms of clearly trying to push the little guys out. And I'll never forget the anti-craft Budweiser ad campaign amidst AB's buying of craft breweries.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/articl...e-battle-for-the-future-of-beer-distribution/

 

But since they are failing miserably, does it really matter.

E.g., They own fewer than 10% of their distributiors and the independent distributors who handle their beers have mostly ignored their incentive programs. (They prefer the profits from craft beer sales to the incentives.)

E.g., Since craft beer distributors have also been guilty of "pay to play" what is really new? After all such practices are illegal in many states and some actually do enforce their own laws.

 

Todd has vocalized BeerAdvocate's stance on this clearly. Some agree or at least accept, others insist on trying to point out some flaw in the logic or discrepancy with past actions on BA's part. And others are just getting tangential to the spirit of the article and this thread.
How is this one going to end?

 

This debate reminds me of an old Albert King song: "Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die." How many of us would want to pay the full price for a magazine without ads from Darth Vader or from people who may have entertained a Darth Vader thought at one time or another? As for complaints about inconsistency, I believe it was Ralph Waldo Emerson who wrote"Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."

 

Just fine, I would think.

Many of the points that have been made and the questions that have been asked have been valid. Some less so, but I think everyone has conducted themselves in the proper fashion.

 

Probably like other BA threads with more of the same of what articulated in your post.

Permit me to state one more time: "Respect Beer".

And yes, there is no qualifier before the word "Beer" in the above.

Cheers!

 

This was a good, short, and to the point article.

Regardless of what was done in the past, I appreciate the fact that Todd took a stance: No more dealings with ABI.

I tend to err on the side of "do whatever the hell you want", especially when it comes to drinking beer, I must admit that I always get a kick out of the little guys sticking it to the corporate behemoth.

Though it might not seem like it, every little thing that is done to spite ABI, they feel it in one way or another. The way they throw money around, trying to scoop up market share in a frenzy, is just a testament to the fact that whatever independent brewery supporters are doing is working. Desperation is a stinky cologne.

Happy Monday and have a great week, advocates of beer.

 

I certainly laugh about it, but probably for different reasons.

This is doubtful. I don't think ABI is changing their plan because of how craft beer is responding to it. They are proactive and the aggressor in this situation. Not reactive, like the BA and most craft breweries have been.

 

I guess that would depend on which plan you're talking about.

 

Their plan to acquire craft breweries and expand them until they have a certain share of the craft beer market.

 

With another year of Black Friday insanity when BCBS drops?

 

I'd say that's probably the most obvious part of their overall plan.

Consider Zx Ventures

https://zx-ventures.com

This company was created, funded and essentially given free rein, by ABInBev. (It is, for example, the entity that acquired a minority share in RateBeer). While I don't have a well developed sense of the goals yet, I think implications of also creating a group focused on "disruptive growth" and disruptive technology is part of a much broader and deeper plan than just buying a few craft breweries to expand their share of the market for flavorful beers.

So I'm thinking their futures planning involves something more forward looking than just acquiring craft breweries.