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.

Add to: Digg | del.icio.us | Technorati | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl

Alcohol Content, Calories, and Carbs in Beer

I get asked the following questions a hundred times a day:

"How much alcohol is in my beer?"
"What is the alcohol content of different beers?"
"How many calories are in beer?"
"How many carbs do I have in my beer?"

I usually answer, "Who cares....doesn't it taste good, don't you enjoy it, don't you have more important things to worry about? But today I will give you the correct answer to your questions about the alcohol content in different beers, the calories in these beers, and the total carbs for each beer.

There are some very nice tables on the internet you can use. My two favorites are found at RealBeer.com and Beer100.com. These tables list different beers, the alcohol content, the calories in each beer, and the carbs for the beers. The following example chart is from Beer100.com :

Brand	Brewery	% Alcohol	Calories/12 oz	Carbs
Anchor Porter	Anchor	5.6	209	*
Anchor Steam	Anchor	4.9	153	16.0
Anheuser Busch Natural Light	Anheuser Busch	4.2	95	3.2
Anheuser Busch Natural Ice	Anheuser Busch	5.9	157	8.9
Aspen Edge	Adolph Coors	4.1	94	2.6
Blatz Beer	Pabst	4.8	153	12.5
Blatz Light	Pabst	*	*	8.5
Blue Moon	Adolph Coors	5.4	171	13.7
Bud Dry	Anheuser Busch	5.0	130	7.8
Bud Ice	Anheuser Busch	5.5	148	8.9
Bud Ice Light	Anheuser Busch	4.1	110	6.5
Bud Light	Anheuser Busch	4.2	110	6.6
Budweiser	Anheuser Busch	5.0	145	10.6
Budweiser Select	Anheuser Busch	4.3	99	3.1
Busch Beer	Anheuser Busch	4.6	133	10.2
Busch Ice	Anheuser Busch	5.9	169	12.5
Busch Light	Anheuser Busch	4.2	110	6.7
Carling Black Label	G. Heileman	4.3	138	12.5
Colt 45 Malt Liquor	G. Heileman	6.1	174	11.1
Coors Banquet Beer	Adolph Coors	5.0	142	10.6
Coors Light	Adolph Coors	4.2	102	5.0
Genesee Beer	High Falls Brewing	4.5	148	13.5
Genesee Cream Ale	High Falls Brewing	5.1	162	15.0
Genesee Ice	High Falls Brewing	5.9	156	14.5
Genesee Red	High Falls Brewing	4.9	148	14.0
George Killian's Irish Red	Adolph Coors	4.9	163	13.8
Icehouse	Miller	5	132	8.7
Icehouse	Miller	5.5	149	9.8
Hamm's Beer	Miller	4.7	144	12.1
Hamm's Golden Draft	Miller	4.7	144	12.1
Hamm's Special Light	Miller	4.1	110	7.3
Keystone Premium	Adolph Coors	4.4	108	5.0
Keystone Light	Adolph Coors	4.2	104	5.1
Keystone Ice	Adolph Coors	5.9	143	6.6
Leinenkugel Honey Weiss	Leinenkugel	4.92	149	12.0
Leinenkugel Northwoods Lager	Leinenkugel	4.94	163	15.3
Leinenkugel Original	Leinenkugel	4.67	152	13.9
Leinenkugel Creamy Dark	Leinenkugel	4.94	170	16.8
Leinenkugel Red	Leinenkugel	4.94	166	16.2
Leinenkugel Light	Leinenkugel	4.19	105	5.7
Leinenkugel Amber Light	Leinenkugel	4.14	110	7.4
Lowenbrau Dark		5.0	160
Lowenbrau Special Beer		5.2	160
Magnum Malt Liquor	Miller	5.6	157	11.2
Michael Shea's	High Falls Brewing	4.62	145	13.0
Michelob Amber Boch	Anheuser Busch	5.2	166	15.0
Michelob Beer	Anheuser Busch	5.0	155	13.3
Michelob Golden Draft	Anheuser Busch	4.7	152	14.1
Michelob Golden Draft Light	Anheuser Busch	4.1	110	7.0
Michelob Honey Lager	Anheuser Busch	4.9	175	17.9
Michelob Light	Anheuser Busch	4.3	113	6.7
Michelob Ultra	Anheuser Busch	4.1	95	2.6
Mickey's Fine Malt Liquor	Miller	5.6	157	11.2
Miller Genuine Draft	Miller	4.7	143	13.1
Miller Genuine Draft Light	Miller	4.2	110	7
Miller High Life	Miller	4.7	143	13.1
Miller High Life Light	Miller	4.2	110	7
Miller Lite	Miller	4.2	96	3.2
Milwaukee's Best	Miller	4.5	128	11.4
Milwaukee's Best Light	Miller	4.5	98	3.5
Milwaukee's Best Ice	Miller	5.9	144	7.3
O'Doul's	Anheuser Busch	0.4	70	13.3
Old Milwaukee Light	Stroh	3.8	114	8.3
Old Milwaukee Beer	Stroh	4.5	146	12.9
Olde English 800 Malt Liquor	Miller	5.9	160	10.5
Olympia Premium Lager	Pabst	4.7	146	11.9
Pabst Blue Ribbon	Pabst	5.0	153	12.01
Pabst Extra Light Low Alcohol	Pabst	2.5	67	*
Pete's Wicked Ale		5.3	174	17.7
Red Hook ESB	Red Hook	5.77	179	14.15
Red Hook IPA	Red Hook	6.5	188	12.66
Rolling Rock Extra Pale	Latrobe	4.6	142
Rolling Rock Premium Beer	Latrobe	4.5	120	10.0
Sam Adams Boston Lager	Boston Beer	4.75	160	18.0
Sam Adams Boston Ale	Boston Beer	4.94	160	19.9
Sam Adams Cherry Wheat	Boston Beer	5.2	166	16.86
Sam Adams Cream Stout	Boston Beer	4.69	195	23.94
Sam Adams IPA	Boston Beer	5.93	175
Sam Adams Light	Boston Beer		124	9.7
Sam Adams Pale Ale	Boston Beer	5.25	145
Schaefer Beer	Pabst	4.6	142	12.00
Schlitz Beer	Pabst	4.7	146	12.1
Schlitz Light	Pabst	4.2	110	*
Schlitz Malt Liquor	Pabst	6.2	185	*
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale	Sierra Nevada	5.6	200	12.3
Sierra Nevada Porter	Sierra Nevada	5.6	200	15.7
Sierra Nevada Stout	Sierra Nevada	5.8	210	19.4
Signature Stroh Beer	Pabst	4.8	153	*
Stroh's Beer	Pabst	4.6	149	12.0
Stroh's Light	Pabst	4.4	113	7
Tuborg Deluxe Dark Export	G. Heileman	5.1	163
Tuborg Export Quality	G. Heileman	5.0	156
Weinhard's Private Reserve	Miller	4.8	150	9.9
Weinhard's Amber Light	Miller	4.2	135	11.5
Weinhard's Hefeweizen	Miller	4.9	151	12.2
Weinhard's Blonde Lager	Miller	5.1	161	14.0
Weinhard's Pale Ale	Miller	4.6	147	13
Yuengling Ale	D.G. Yuengilng	5.0	145	10
Yuengling Porter	D.G. Yuengilng	4.5	150	14
Yuengling Premium Beer	D.G. Yuengling	4.4	135	12
Yuengling Light	D.G. Yuengling	3.8	98	6.6
Yuengling Lager	D.G. Yuengling	4.4	135	12

Do you like to make your own beer? Click here to gain access to 641 Home Brewing Recipes.

Add to: Digg | del.icio.us | Technorati | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl

Freight Allowances and Fuel Surcharges for Beverage Distributors

Freight Allowance or Fuel Surcharge? I find these terms going through my head twenty-four hours a day. A freight allowance is usually passed down to beverage distributors from their suppliers to alleviate the financial burden of high freight rates. Freight Allowances are also used to equalize FOB’s for beverage distributors located long distances from where the products are produced and shipped. A fuel surcharge is an incremental charge added to the total invoice from a beverage distributor to a retail establishment. If your company is not receiving freight allowances or passing on a fuel surcharge to your customers, you need to ask yourself some serious questions.

Freight Allowances

Many beverage distributors receive freight allowances from their suppliers. If you are not receiving them, you need to demand an allowance from your suppliers. I have heard and seen instances of beverage distributors in California, Texas, and Florida receiving substantial freight allowances from many well-known suppliers. If your suppliers are doing this for one distributor, they should be doing it for all.

Fuel Surcharges

Some distributors, including myself, have added $1.00 and $2.00 fuel surcharges to retail invoices. There has been some backlash from the suppliers and major chains, but overall many retailers have come to expect a fuel surcharge. I am considering changing my surcharge to a percentage of the total invoice. It will probably be 2% to 2.5% of the total invoice cost.

With rising diesel and gasoline costs to beverage distributors, make sure you start asking for freight allowances and adding fuel surcharges now. Fuel for our trucks will never be cheaper than it is now. And that causes many sleepless nights for me.

Add to: Digg | del.icio.us | Technorati | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl

Struggling with Convenience Store Cooler Box Sets?

Why do we lose sleep over cooler resets? How come my company never gets enough cooler space? Will there ever be a time when I can expect fair market share in a beverage cooler? Space management is more important to your beverage business than anything else. When building your beverage business, building a space management plan will deliver added market share and cash flow. Some key characteristics to a good space management plan include:

1. Take time to analyze your current space in all accounts.
2. Take more time to analyze the space allocated to the competition.
3. Note the brands and packages that are selling.
4. Watch for out of stocks.
5. Definitely check code dates…they are time bombs sitting on the shelves.
6. See which packages are over spaced and under spaced.
7. Make sure there are no gaping holes in the set or underutilized space.
8. Discuss your products strengths and your competitors’ weaknesses with account decision makers.
9. Keep your space clean! Doors, shelves, products, deep well…your customers appreciate this more than you know.
10. For incremental sales, think outside the cooler. Use racks, suction cups, displays, hot shelves, ice downs, etc.
11. Refuse to lose space…find alternatives, beg, and whine. Remember in the beverage business you can go from first to worst any given day.

Your space management plan should revolve around these key characteristics. You will enjoy the benefits of increased sales from more packages on the shelves, less out of stocks, more cash flow, and a buyer impressed with your knowledge and interest in his business.

Add to: Digg | del.icio.us | Technorati | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl

100 Resources Needed to Start Your Own Soft Drink Beverage Company

I am compiling a checklist for aspiring beverage company distributors. Included in the checklist is everything you will need, in the form of resources, to start your own soft drink, new age, beer, or energy drink beverage distributorship:

1. Warehouse/Storage              51. Cell Phone
2. Van/Delivery Truck             52. Voice Mail
3. Uniforms             53. Route Book
4. Two Wheeler             54. Distribution Channels
5. First Aid Kit             55. Company Policy
6. Route Accounting             56. Employee Policy
7. Point of Sale             57. Fuel Supplier
8. Route Sheets             58. Electricity
9. Tape Gun             59. Gas/Water
10. Build To Lists             60. Blade Cutter
11. Pricing/Label Gun             61. Tape Strips
12. Products             62. Cleaning Supplies
13. Shelf Strips             63. Breakeven Analysis
14. Customers             64. Receiving
15. Insurance             65. Legal Ownership
16. Cash Flow             66. Organizational Chart
17. Glide Racks             67. Filing Cabinet
18. Imagination             68. Stapler
19. Patience             69. Security
20. Health             70. Inventory Controls
21. Banker             71. CMA Programs
22. Calculator             72. Discounting
23. Invoices             73. Rebate/Return Policy
24. Fork Lift             74. Promotions
25. Static Stickers             75. Damaged Product Procedure
26. Pallet Jack             76. Forecasting
27. Computer             77. Ledger
28. Suppliers             78. Petty Cash
29. Street Sheets             79. Budget
30. Presentations             80. Long Term Plan
31. Wallet Chain             81. Margins
32. Honesty             82. Laid Ins
33. Internet             83. FOB’s
34. Pen/Pencil             84. Order Staging
35. Notepad             85. UPC’s
36. Printer             86. COD or Credit Terms
37. Humor             87. Rotation
38. Mission Statement             88. OSHA Guidelines
39. Goals             89. CDL
40. Business Plan             90. Balance Sheet
41. Excel Spreadsheet             91. Franchise/Contract
42. Fire Extinguisher             92. Brand Programming
43. EDI Capabilities             93. Merchandising skills and Tools
44. Word             94. Dependability
45. Power Point             95. Versatility
46. Space Management             96. Laptop Computer
47. Enthusiasm             97. Briefcase
48. Comfortable Shoes             98. Business Cards
49. Samples             99. Back Brace
50. Dealer Loaders             100. TIME

Please let me know what I've left out!

Add to: Digg | del.icio.us | Technorati | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl

Calculating Gross Profit per Case

An excellent, straightforward reference for checking the health of your beverage business is calculating your gross profit per case. Many route accounting systems have report functions that will give you an estimate of this figure, but route accounting systems don't take into consideration all of the outside influences; such as samples, free cases, breakage, discounts, promotions, or theft. I use a simple spreadsheet program that will give you the exact figure once you have entered the neccessary sales information. At the end of the month, I enter my individual case sales, gross dollars by individual case, any promotional dollars and then, in a flash, I get my figure. It stands at $4.65 a case at present, which is up substantially from three years ago, when it was a stagnant $3.87. In fact, my margins have also increased a nice 3 percentage points to 26.4%.

Analyzing your gross profit per case will undeniably impact your margins and profits in a positive manner. This simple report will also give you needed guidance in reducing unneccessary discounts, rationalization or elimination of unprofitable SKU's, monthly forecasting and ordering, and a wealth of data about your portfolio.

This program is built using simple excel formulas that you can develop very easily. If you want an example of mine, you can download it here.

Add to: Digg | del.icio.us | Technorati | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl

Building a Foundation for the Distribution of New Beverages

When expanding your portfolio in the beverage distribution business, a distributor must understand and follow certain guidelines that affect the rollout of a new beverage line. I believe that additional groundwork, preparation, and sales presentation tailored locally for a new beverage introduction will pay considerable dividends in the establishment of new brands in your market. Many distributors assume the brand programming developed by the supplier will be automatically successful in their local market. Many times this is not the case. A one-size-fits-all approach will not always work. Exceptional distributors that build brands will take the brand programming and revise it with their local intricacies, pricing influences, and vernacular to help establish an enduring foundation for the brand.

An example: My company focused on initial Red Bull distribution in the on-premise on our own at our own expense, not only for its undeniable reputation as a mixer, but because all the support we received from Red Bull NA for the first year was product. We supplied the bars with personalized point of sale that we did in house and sampled it extensively. In fact, we didn’t even try to place it in the off-premise for the first two months. I firmly believe that a beverage consumed and asked for in social situations will translate to acceptance on a convenience store shelf and floor. I also believe that Red Bull has created a bureaucracy it doesn’t need. The brand’s mystique and distributor network should’ve been sufficient. An arrogant sales force will be its demise.

There are three parameters a beverage wholesaler should abide by when establishing a foundation for new product distribution:

1.Product and Supplier Knowledge. Extensive research must be conducted on the product and supplier by the distributor. Know every ingredient. Have a list of benefits, nutritional information, and product specifications. Know company contacts, advertising slogans, and all of its uses. Its imperative to know what the supplier’s mission is, what it stands for, and its beliefs. Due diligence is an absolute must before you sign the contract.

2.Local Geographic Brand Programming. You will always receive a new brand or package introduction sales presentation from a supplier. If you don’t, be worried. Anyway, once you get this ask your supplier representative to help you tailor it to your local market, if he doesn’t ask you first. Always ask for extra funding for incentives. When building your local programming, build it in language your sales force will understand and give them the tools they need for the rollout to be successful. Train them extensively. Have signage already produced, sufficient inventory of glide racks and ice bins, street sheets printed and ready to go, plenty of product, iced down samples, straightforward objectives that are not overcomplicated and confusing, and an attainable incentive that creates excitement. Try to design and convey to your sales force the exact message and look you want to see in every account. Make your employees compete…track sales, distribution, and display execution. A cookie cutter approach that designates the slightest details in the introduction is the optimum tool for a successful product rollout.

3.Convince the Retailer Beforehand. People love to buy and shop, but they hate to be sold. I am a salesman, but I hate to be sold something. I can’t stand a cold call. I want my retailers to be convinced that they need my products. I want my customers to shop from me. I want my products to be the retailer’s idea. I want my retailers to be creative with my products. A soft sell where the retailer is convinced in the product’s benefits and contributions to his own business is wonderful. Start a campaign a month before the rollout. Gain placement of teaser point of sale. Give away samples and merchandise. Talk to your customers early and tell them what you need for the brand to be a success. Make people want and ask for the product before the introduction.

Following these three brand programming guidelines for beverage distributors when introducing new beverage products will help you in building an informed and knowledgeable sales force, retailer and customer satisfaction, and trust and dependence from your suppliers.

Add to: Digg | del.icio.us | Technorati | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl