Francis Creighton, the CEO of the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA), wrote a piece celebrating the three-tier system called A Stronger Industry Through the Three-Tier System. Ironically, the fruits of the liquor industry he celebrates come in spite of the three-tier system and not because of it. As his blog post goes […]
Spirits wholesalers are being taken to the woodshed by the beer wholesalers. The recent news that RNDC lost key accounts in California was shocking and influenced RNDC’s decision to leave the largest consumer market in the country. Significantly, Reyes Beverage Group (Reyes), the largest beer wholesaler benefited by landing many of these key accounts formerly […]
Will the Real Oregon please stand up
News broke Friday that the Oregon Ethics Commission voted 7-1 to increase former director of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission Steve Marks fine from $500 to $1,500. All this stems from the allocation of Pappy Van Winkle bottles for himself and other privileged individuals.
By […]
Happy Birthday Granholm
May 16th is the 20th anniversary of Granholm, twenty years later I look at how Granholm has impacted the marketplace.
Granholm’s legacy
The Supreme Court victory in Granholm was one of the greatest things to happen to the wine industry. The growth in wineries has been massive […]
The Legislative rollbacks
Victory in Granholm led to a massive growth in interstate winery shipping. Before Granholm DTC wine shipping was available in 27 states, when winery shipping becomes legal in Mississippi that number will stand at 48 states.[1]
Granholm became the dominant force in the expansion of winery direct shipping […]
Introduction
Granholm v. Heald, the U.S. Supreme Court case which struck down state laws which allowed in-state wineries to ship to in-state residents but denied this same privilege to out-of-state wineries, is 20 years old on May 16th. Granholm resulted in the legalization of interstate winery shipping.
I will be writing a series […]
In the liquor world the lack of parity between the tiers is obvious to someone with firsthand knowledge of the industry. It is very difficult to challenge the power of the middle tier. From time to time a major supplier like Sazerac will yield its power over the wholesale tier but this is the exception […]
The Hemp industry is in a unique but tough space right now. Hemp was taken off the list of controlled substances by the 2018 Farm Bill. Hemp, which is different than its cousin marijuana, is a Delta 9 concentrate ( delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) is the psychoactive compound responsible for the “high” associated with cannabis) with a […]
Ireland has never been known for its conquest of foreign lands, unlike countries like England, France, Spain and the Netherlands they have never held colonies and established an empire.
But now it seems Ireland is poised to conquer Europe by the heavy hand of government regulation. As someone who is Irish I can’t say this is […]
I am not the biggest fan of tariffs, as I am a believer in free markets. Free trade is a positive and provides us a wide range of goods from everywhere in world. From French wines to foreign cars, I have enjoyed the consumer benefits of free trade.
Last week we saw the potential tariff war […]