Innovative Legal Guidance For Alcohol, Cannabis And Global Consumer Brands
According to Barclays, spirits sales increased for the third consecutive month, to +7.0% from +5.8% in the prior 4 weeks. “On a 12-week basis, industry growth improved to +6.4% from +5.5% in the prior 12 weeks.” Bourbon (+14.1% up from +12.3% last month) and Canadian Whiskey (+16.3% versus +13.0% last month) are both way up. Meanwhile, vodka sales increased just…
California bartenders may be required to wear disposable gloves or use utensils to make drinks under a new food safety law. The California Retail Food Code went into effect at the beginning of 2014 requires chefs and all other culinary workers to wear disposable gloves or use utensils such as tongs, when handling “ready-to-eat” foods. The Code reads as follows:…
A new bill in Florida being proposed will repeal the prohibition against beer tastings at off-premise establishments, like Costco and Publix, where beer is obviously sold. Florida craft brewers are permitted to have a tasting room next to their brewhouses, but permitting beer tastings at off-premise retailers will no doubt increase sales. Just like the consumer sampling rules for liquor,…
The continuing trend of celebrity-endorsers continues with Diddy and DeLeón and Justin Timberlake with Sauza 901. Diageo formed a joint venture with Sean “Diddy” Combs to buy DeLeón, a premium tequila brand. Diageo will add DeLeón to its tequila portfolio, which already includes Don Julio. Tequila priced at more than $60 a bottle — of which DeLeón does — makes…
Lawmakers are responding to the increased demand to lower beer excise taxes, according to Law 360 (http://www.law360.com/articles/498828/lawmakers-push-to-slash-beer-excise-taxes). “The Brewers Excise and Economic Relief Act, or BEER Act, as proposed by senators from Missouri, Utah and other states, would cut the beer excise tax in half, from $18 per barrel to $9 per barrel, saving $1.68 billion in taxes per year,…
According to Guest Metrics, craft spirits continue to outpace mainstream brands. Year-to-date, craft spirit brands (which by Guest Metrics’ definition includes Tito’s) grew volumes by 26%, while mainstream brands are down about 3.5%. Even excluding Tito’s from craft, craft grew 12-13% during 2013 versus 2012. Of overall spirits, craft volume has grown from 2.5% in 2012 to about 3.7% during…
December 5th marks the 80th anniversary of the repeal of prohibition. The current alcohol beverage regulatory environment and many of the laws are in place to avoid the “evils” of pre-prohibition days. The Distilled Spirits Counsel of the United States has a great infographic explaining the rise and fall of prohibition ). Below is a news release, in substance, discussing…
New York Senator Charles Schumer announced that he is introducing legislation that will cut the excise tax on small breweries in half. Currently, brewers pay a $7 excise tax for the first 60,000 barrels they brew per year. Under the Small BREW (Brewer Reinvestment and Expanding Workforce) Act of 2013 , that rate is reduced to $3.50 per barrel, resulting…
The following is from the New York State Liquor Authority Homepage: “On October 10, 2013, the SLA charged Southern Wine and Spirits with three violations for offering limited availability products, without price posting the products as required by statute. While the SLA’s investigation found the wholesaler was not discriminating among retailers, the wholesaler admitted to failing to price post limited…
Two recent studies discuss alcohol advertising. The first, in Reuters, notes that “advertising for alcoholic beverages in magazines is largely in line with rules set by the U.S. government and industry, though in some cases just barely, according to a new study.” Researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health determined that about 98 percent of alcohol ads in…