Pabst Brewing Company Sold, Thank Goodness!

Pabst Brewing Company has been sold to C. Dean Metropoulos as of Friday. The purchase price was not disclosed, but has been estimated to be around $250 million. Mr. Metropoulos is a consumer products veteran whose previous purchases include Chef Boyardee, Bumble Bee canned tuna, Swanson frozen dinners, and Vlasic pickles.

A list of Pabst Brewing Company's stable of viable regional breweries and brands include:

1. F&M Schaefer Brewing Company
Schaefer

2. G. Heileman Brewing Company
Carling Black Label
Blatz
Champale
Colt 45
Coqui 900
Kingsbury
National Bohemian
Old Style
Schmidt
Special Export
Stag

3. Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company
Old Milwaukee
Schlitz
Schlitz Malt

4. Lone Star Brewing Company
Lone Star
McSorley's

5. Pabst Brewing Company
Jacob's Best
Olympia
Pabst Blue Ribbon

6. Pearl Brewing Company
Ballantine
Country Club
Falstaff
Pearl

7. Piel Brothers
Piels

8. Primo Brewing & Malting Co.
Primo Island

9. Rainier Brewing Company
Rainier Beer

10. Stroh Brewery Company
Silver Thunder Malt Liquor
Stroh's
St. Ides

Personally, I think the Metropoulos' made a shrewd purchase that will deliver solid sales and profits. This business will be worth 10 times the amount he paid for it in a decade.

I heard somewhere that Pabst Brewing Company had 30 employees. From what I've seen recently, Pabst could be run by two people, tops.

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New Driver for Beer Company

I had just about lost all interest in Nascar. American Idol and Dancing with the Stars is more exciting some days. Do the breweries really think Kurt Busch or Kasey Kahne help sell more beer? Do I think these guys have passion for the brands they promote? I'd be willing to bet that Kurt Busch drinks Michelob Ultra and Kasey Kahne purchases Corona with his own money. The breweries are just a paycheck for them...they help pay for their hobby. Why not get a real man behind the wheel of these cars, a driver with a little passion, a Billy Bad Butt. I'll go out on a limb and say old Billy would whip somebody's ass if they said something about his beer company sponsor. You think Kurt or Kasey would do that?

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Beverage Trends for 2009

I am going to pull out my crystal ball and give you a quick glimpse of the top ten events that will occur in our beloved beverage industry in 2009 and beyond. In light of recent trends in our economy and the official announcement of an actual recession (a few months late I might add), next year will not be as bad as everyone thinks. There will actually be a few highs to go along with the multitude of lows:

1. AB/Inbev will still be King. Best products, image, quality, focus.

2. Sales of Energy drinks will begin a long, though not steep, decline. The pipeline of new energy drinks will start to close and the entrenched players will began a war of attrition that will have many casualties.

3. Miller/Coors will precariously hold market share through the manipulation of its distributor network. I just love the term "independent business person." MCBC's conduct over the last few years has been disgraceful and unethical. Watch your back guys and don't forget to document everything.

4. Pepsi just keeps looking better and better to me.

5. Coke should have saved a few of those billion$.

6. We still want healthy alternatives to all this sugar. I find myself drinking more and more water instead of junk.

7. The big beverage companies will make just as much money in 2009.

8. Fuel will be reasonable (if you call $2.25 diesel reasonable) and insurance will not.

9. It will be tougher to make those debt payments if you're a beer distributor, though not because of lower sales. You'll sell more and make less. Your suppliers are going to squeeze every bit they can from you in the form of more expensive POS, fuel surcharges, dunnage increases, margins, marketing co-op, advertising. You name it, they're going to take it.

10. The hot selling flavors will be coconut, cocoa/chocolate, and blueberry.

Now that you know the future, get ready those business plans...2009 will be here before you know it. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

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Beverage Distribution Employment Opportunities

Even though I am no expert, I firmly believe that our country is in the midst of a "great recession". Feelings of hard times ahead abound. With our sagging economy, employees in the beverage industry are becoming more and more unsatisfied with their present employment. Many face cutbacks in salary and deductions in their paychecks from the rising cost of fuel, freight, insurance, and products. Beverage distributorships are facing tough times. Many are carrying a large amount of debt and others are trying to take added costs out of their systems. We will find in the future that a large amount of new beverage company suppliers will start losing distributors because of the higher costs of keeping inventory and low turnover of these smaller brands. Large beverage distributors today want brands and packages that turnover quickly, have decent margins, and are not labor intensive (or brands we don't have to hand sell). This is a tremendous opportunity developing for entreprenuers wanting to enter the beverage business.

If you are an employee with a beverage distribution company and you are unhappy with your present employment, you have a few decisions to make:

• Stay in your present position and be glad that you at least have a job.


• Go back to college and get the education you need to better yourself.


• Find employment in another field of work.


• Be proactive, go out on your own, and start your own beverage business.

I have some employees that do nothing but complain. Complaining gets in the way of progress. They are offered sales incentives and extra cash for driving results, and most can't (or are too lazy to) meet simple quotas. Why stay in a position that you are not happy in and waste not only yours, but everyone else's time? Is it a level of comfort, is it the only skill you know, are you lazy, do you like to be miserable and make the people around you miserable. I think it's a combination of all the above with a high level of insecurity and unsuredness about themselves mixed in. If you don't want to be a part of a team in a sales-oriented, results-driven business then you need to seriously consider the other three decisions I mentioned above.

Going back to college to learn a new technical skill or get an advanced degree will pay dividends for the rest of your life. Go into a field that you are passionate about and excel. I've always liked the quote that "you should find a job that you would like to have if you were a millionaire". This can be defined as doing something that you love, enjoy, and feel good about.

The third one about finding another line of work goes without saying anything.

I love the fourth one though. The opportunity for small, nimble beverage distributors that hand sell products and build small, niche brands is exploding. If you want to stay in the beverage business and believe in yourself, why not start your own beverage distribution company? You can do it better than anyone else can, can't you? The best source for information is the total beverage package. Everything you need to get started in the beverage business is in there and it will save you a ton of time and money. Why not let a beverage industry professional give you the direction you need to start your own beverage distribution or production company?

Remember everyone has choices to make as to whether they better their place in society. When you don't take the opportunity of getting or doing something better for yourself, you make sacrifices. Your decision to make these sacrifices determines your job position and title. In other words, if you don't take the time to learn and be the best at what you do, then it's your own fault and not anyone else's.

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Build a Marketing Plan or a Business Plan for a Beverage Company

Whether you're a seasoned beverage industry professional or an entrepreneur with an idea for a beverage company you will need a business plan or a marketing plan for the advancement of your go to market strategy.

The distinct differences of the two are, mainly:
-Business plans are for banks, lenders, and borrowing money.
-Marketing plans are for suppliers, retailers, and making more money.

These plans are also fundamentally different, in that:
-Business plans should be based on factual data that embody your entire business architecture or conception yielding precise information about your company or proposition.
-Marketing plans should pertain to certain areas of focus of an existing brand or package, new product agreements and rollouts, and new ideas to help secure business alliances.

But, they both contain similar and essential components:
1.Pre-planning...information and fact gathering time.
2.You, your skills, and your company...remember you are selling yourself.
3.Historical data...anything pertinent to past performance.
4.Sales figures, projections, and trends...everyone wants to know what you've done, what you think you are going to do, and how you think you're going to do it.
4.Geographics...know the territory and the accounts inside and out.
5.Competition...the more you know about them the better.
6.Demographics...what the population looks like in detail.
7.Estimates...tell them how much money you are going to make them.
8.Responsibilities...who is charge of what.
9.Organizational...job titles and functions.
10.Funds...everyone is all about cash flow.
11.References...throw some names around.

Now you know the difference about beverage company business plans and beverage company marketing plans.

I've been getting many emails about starting new beverage companies and beer distributors lately, so I wrote down some new ideas about business plans for some of you budding beverage entrepreneurs out there. I've helped a few guys and gals get started in the beverage business, so if you want to pick my brain feel free to send me an email.

If you need some business plan and marketing plan examples about starting your own beverage business, please take a look at the Total Beverage Package.

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Whew...What a Summer.

The dog days are upon us. I've been so busy I haven't had time to post much. There are so many new brands and products flooding the beverage market that I really don't know which ones will miss and which ones will hit. I haven't added any new brands recently because of the opportunities I'm missing with the brands I have. I am planning an all out distribution-space war with the competition in August, just to get some new packages on the shelf.

Heard at all the malt beverage conventions this summer: "space is running out, buyers are hiding from me, employees are saying they don't get paid enough, prices are going up, diesel is killing me, excise taxes are due, I'm ready to get out".

I'm thinking about buying one of those new .me domain names. How does distribute.me sound. Or beverage.me, beer.me, drink.me, sell.me. Anyway, they just started selling them at GoDaddy if you want to get a great name since all the .com's seem to be taken. Let me know if you come up with any good ones.

Do we still have a major brewery that is American owned anymore? The answer is no. What if the Yankees were owned by the French or the Cowboys were owned by a group from Asia. How about Ford and GM to the Swiss. Coke and Pepsi to Saudi Arabia. My advice if you are confused on which beer to purchase...drink Shiner because I love Carlos and he sings very well.

Adios, mi amigos.

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Protecting Your New Beverage Company Idea

I love to think of new beverage company ideas daily. I have developed hundreds of new beverages and drinks...in my mind of course. When starting your own beverage company you must first think of protecting your trademarks and intellectual property. I was fascinated to learn of an upcoming live chat sponsored by Bevnet.com entitled "Learn to Protect Your Beverage through Trademarks." It is being hosted by Gregg Sultan, a trademarks attorney and columnist for Bevnet Innovations, on Tuesday, June 24, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. EST.

Sultan is an associate at Dreier Stein Kahan Browne Woods George LLP. and has strong experience in the trademarks field. He recently contributed a piece to Bevnet Innovation on the process of selecting, clearing and protecting trademarks for beverage names. You can view this story here.

You can sign up for the live web chat with Gregg Sultan here.

Protecting your trademark is one of the ultimate responsibilities of anyone in the process of designing or starting to develop your own energy drink, soft drink, beer or alcohol drink, isotonic, tea, or juice drink. Personally, I can't wait to listen in on the presentation.

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