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Posts Tagged ‘Selling Alcohol’

The 9th annual Responsible Retailing Forum (RRF) will be held on April 12-13, 2011 in Park City, Utah. RRF brings together alcohol regulators, state attorneys general and public health stakeholders to work with retailers and their distributors and suppliers, and their training providers, to promote policies that prevent underage sales of alcohol and tobacco products. The 2011 RRF will be hosted by the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. The conference hotel is The Canyons. Information on the conference agenda, The Canyons and electronic registration will be posted on the RRF website later this year.

Well, cocktail week in London is over for this year.  If you missed it you might want to make plans for next year.

London has long been recognised as being the world’s capital of cocktail culture and London Cocktail Week is an opportunity for discerning drinkers to celebrate this with a host of shows, one-off bars, classes for both novices and experienced professionals, seminars and tastings. Some of London’s most exclusive member’s bars will be throwing open their doors and some of the world’s top mixologists will be shaking drinks and sharing their knowledge. Distillers and blenders from all spirits categories will be conducting tutored tastings and talking about their products.

Click here for London Cocktail Weeks website.

Source: NBWA

Date: October 4, 2010

Day One Focuses on Industry Changes, Challenges and Opportunities

Today the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) kicked off the first full day of its 73rd Annual Convention in Chicago, Illinois.

NBWA Chairman of the Board Mitch Watkins addressed the goals he laid out for 2010 including increasing the Association’s communications efforts, distributor participation in Association events as well as distributor education and outreach. He explained how education and outreach is vital to making sure that members of Congress, state regulators, attorneys general and the public are informed about the importance of state-based alcohol regulation.

Watkins also outlined the Association’s activities to address threats facing the state-based system of alcohol regulation, including advancing a distributor agenda and opposing ballot initiatives in Washington state. “This threat is real, it’s immediate, and make no mistake – the NBWA is fully engaged in the campaign to defeat this initiative. From the very start, NBWA has jumped in with both financial and subject matter expert support, and we’ll continue to assist the Protect our Communities campaign any way we can.”

NBWA President Craig Purser talked about the impact recent economic and political changes have had on the beer distribution industry. He also discussed ongoing challenges to America’s effective system of alcohol regulation, including the continued challenges to the system presented by litigation, deregulation by defunding state agencies and the latest and newest challenge – deregulation at the ballot box disguised as privatization.

Purser highlighted how the Comprehensive Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness (CARE) Act – which has 151 co-sponsors and is advancing through Congress – has already proven effective, stating, “It has highlighted the threat that states face from ongoing litigation. It has illuminated the fact that some would like to dramatically reduce a state’s ability to effectively regulate. And it is helping lawmakers understand the three-tier system and that all three tiers are independent for a reason. The system was set up so that separation between the tiers works for the public’s interest.”

James Hellman, President of Preferred Distributors, LLC, in Sparta, Wisconsin, moderated a panel of individuals interested in effective alcohol regulation entitled “The Great Masquerade: Deregulation Disguised as Privatization.” The panel focused on ballot initiatives that are being considered by voters in Washington state that would completely gut the state’s system of alcohol regulation. The panel included James Sgueo, President and CEO of the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association; Jerry Oliver, former alcohol regulator and chief of police; Heather McClung, President of the Washington Brewers Guild; and Judy Cushing, President and CEO of the Oregon Partnership. Panelists addressed challenges that the public would face as a result of these proposals.

Following the General Session program, the Product Demonstration Showcase made a return appearance following its successful debut at the NBWA Annual Convention in 2008. The Showcase offered Convention attendees the opportunity to learn about new services and products from more than 100 different exhibitors. Some of the products on display included imported and domestic beer, non-alcoholic beverages, warehousing technology, fuel management systems, financial services software and promotional products.

NBWA’s 73rd Annual Convention continues Tuesday, October 5, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago in Chicago, Illinois.

Teach your staff how to serve safely.

Source: CNBC

Date: Sept. 28, 2010

Thanks to new laws, restaurant patrons in Massachusetts can now start ordering cocktails at 10 a.m. on Sundays, instead of noon. In Arizona they can start hitting the bottle at 6 a.m.-four hours earlier than previously allowed.

Fans of the new rules can clink their glasses and toast the recession, which has state and county leaders looking to revise their alcohol sales laws in order to give small businesses in their borders more sales and also increase tax revenue as they face large budget deficits.

Other law revisions are in the works. City and state politicians in Connecticut and Virginia are leading efforts to modify alcohol laws in their states.

“I have followed the ebb and flow of blue laws for 30 years, and in my opinion the pattern is that repeal efforts tick upward every time there’s a downturn in the economy,” said David Laband, economics and policy professor at Auburn University, who wrote a book on the laws that restrict alcohol sales on Sundays.

In the case of Massachusetts, the extra two hours of alcohol sales are meant to give small businesses a needed boost, officials in the state said, but it will also give some added revenue to the state.

“We have noticed a definite increase in our liquor sales and overall traffic on Sunday mornings,” says Alexa Demarco, the general manager of Mooo., a restaurant within the XV Beacon Hotel in Boston. “This has been also an added luxury to our Sunday morning brunch guests who are looking to order a bloody Mary, mimosa or one of our signature cocktails we now have listed on our brunch menu.”

Expanding alcohol sales hours also keeps residents to stay and spend money within a municipality’s borders, rather than leaving to buy alcohol from a neighboring state or county, says Laband. That was the case in Zephyrhills, Fla. The city passed legislation this year that allowed alcohol to be sold starting at 11 a.m. on Sundays instead of 1 p.m. because local restaurants and convenience stores were losing customers to surrounding counties that were selling alcohol at earlier hours, says Linda Boan, the Zephyrhills city clerk.

In Arizona, allowing alcohol sales to start at 6 a.m. on Sundays is expected to give added revenue to businesses around the state and especially to resorts in Phoenix and Scottsdale, says Representative Matt Heinz (D) who backed the amendment after a resident complained about not being able to buy a bottle of wine while doing her Sunday morning shopping for the week. “It’s common-sense, pro-business legislature,” says Heinz.

In Virginia, the governor is proposing to change the entire alcohol sales structure altogether.

In that state, residents can buy alcohol only from government-owned stores. Governor Bob McDonnell (R) proposed a plan in early September to privatize the alcohol system by selling 1,000 alcohol licenses. The sale is expected to give the state $500 million that would be used to improve its transportation systems.

And in Connecticut, the mayors of the three largest cities-Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven-are pushing the governor to repeal the state’s blue laws, which ban alcohol sales on Sunday altogether. The mayor’s are saying the state could reap in $8 million in tax revenue after the repeal.

Experts say that with states and cities continuing to face large deficits, more of them will move to relax their laws.

“The economy is definitely a factor,” says Lisa Hawkins, spokesperson at the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. “States are realizing they’re missing out on much needed revenue.”

Learn more about your state’s alcohol-related laws.

Source: Freep.com

By: Christ Christoff and Kathleen Gray

September 30, 2010

For drinkers, it was Christmas in September when Legislature voted to allow liquor sales Sunday mornings and Christmas Day.

Now, the question is: Will Gov. Jennifer Granholm be the Scrooge? Her spokeswoman Liz Boyd said the governor has concerns to resolve before she would sign the bill. It would also allow wine and beer tasting at grocery and party stores and others with package liquor sales licenses.

The changes had been sought for years by owners of bars and liquor retailers. Alcohol could be sold from 7 a.m. Sundays to 2 a.m. Monday mornings with a special $160 permit. Currently, liquor sales are banned Sundays until noon.

The bill also would allow beer, wine and liquor sales up to midnight Christmas Eve and after noon on Christmas Day. Liquor sales are now prohibited after 9 p.m. Christmas Eve and all day on Christmas.

Ellen Belanger, manager of the Park Bar near Comerica Park and Ford Field in Detroit, said the new law could be a boon for business on game days. “They’d be in here early for their Bloody Marys and mimosas,” she said.

Learn more about your state’s alcohol laws here.