Retail

Distributor consolidation, competitive shelf sets, and beyond-beer beverages make a compelling case for external sales help. Here’s how to evaluate them against the in-house alternative.

When it comes to growing sales beyond the taproom, even smaller breweries can professionalize and secure wins.

Whether through consolidation or layoffs, a brewery can lose its point of contact at a wholesaler. Here’s how to keep sales on track while strengthening your partnerships in the middle tier.

Amid wholesaler consolidation and a tightening market, could alternative distribution methods help small breweries achieve their goals?

Walmart, the country’s largest retailer, says it will require unique UPCs for each seasonal and variety pack—and other stores may follow suit. From the potential for packaging headaches to changing sales data, here’s what breweries need to know.

Much of the growth in convenience-store beer coolers is in the form of large, single-serve packages—but that doesn’t make the stovepipe a sure bet for all breweries.

The chief financial officer turned chief marketing officer at Chicago’s Revolution Brewing, known for dabbling in hot takes via his humorous social-media presence @beeraficionado, offers his perspective on the trends facing craft beer in 2023.

Given the ongoing uncertainty in on-premise hospitality, there are fewer taps flowing than there were two years ago. Yet those open draft lines represent opportunities for breweries willing to adjust and build relationships.

Be still, my beating heart: There are data to back up the oft-repeated (or is it oft-wished?) observation that lager may be the next big thing.

Narratives count. Greg Engert, beer director of the Neighborhood Restaurant Group and the man behind ChurchKey, talks about the details that can help bars sell more of your beer.

Jake Sauter, vice president of craft distributor Clear River Beverage in Minneapolis, sheds some light on the shifting landscape.