A-B to Lay Off 142 Following Sale of AB ONE Branch in Oakland
Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) will lay off 142 employees from its AB ONE operations, following the sale of the Oakland, California-based wholly owned distributor, the San Francisco Business Times reported.
The sale of the AB ONE branch to two independent wholesalers – Markstein Sales Company and Matagrano, Inc. – was announced earlier this month. The deal is expected to close July 29, but the transition will not take effect until September, according to the Business Times.
A-B is expected to bargain with Teamsters Local 853, the union group representing some AB ONE Oakland employees, according to the report. Other employees can seek positions at other A-B facilities, or choose to stay with new ownership.
Read more details on the sale here.
DoorDash Increases Alcohol Delivery Requirements to Include ID Scan
Consumers ordering alcohol from DoorDash now must have a government-issued ID scanned by delivery drivers, the e-commerce platform announced today.
DoorDash added delivery of beer, wine and spirits to the platform in September 2021, in an effort to help “merchants grow their businesses,” and allow “customers to purchase alcohol safely and conveniently from home,” according to a press release. The company also claimed the addition also benefits “Dashers” (delivery drivers), as Dasher earnings were +30% higher in Q1 2021 for deliveries with alcohol compared to deliveries without alcohol.
Initial requirements for alcohol delivery on the platform included unspecified “rigorous ID verification prior to checkout,” and “multiple ID check points along the delivery,” DoorDash detailed in a blog post. Dashers must be 21 or older, and are required to take a “compliance course” detailing alcohol laws and delivery protocols.
Now, DoorDash will use a two-step age verification process, which requires consumers to upload a photo of a government-issued ID prior to ordering alcohol, and then requires consumers to meet their DoorDash driver prior at the time of delivery, and have the front of their ID scanned by the Dasher through the DoorDash app. The requirement guarantees that consumers are present at the time alcohol is dropped off, and does not allow for no-contact delivery. Dashers are also required to check for “signs of intoxication” before handing off an order.
Consumers will only need to upload a photo of their ID once – and can update that photo at any time – but they must have their ID scanned with each bev-alc delivery. Dashers may opt out of receiving orders with alcohol.
DoorDash’s new identification requirement was piloted in Dallas, Detroit, Miami, Phoenix, northern Virginia, Seattle and Portland, Oregon. Grocery delivery platform Instacart has a similar requirement, which requires drivers to scan the front and back of a consumer’s photo ID prior to delivering alcohol. Valid forms of ID accepted by Instacart vary by state, according to the platform’s website.
DoorDash consulted with Responsibility.org, Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives (NAWLEE), and others while creating its new requirements, according to the release.
Royal Unibrew to Acquire Amsterdam Brewery Co.
Royal Unibrew will acquire Toronto, Canada-based Amsterdam Brewery Co., the Danish beverage company announced Friday.
Royal Unibrew will acquire 100% of the Canadian brewery, valued at $44 million, according to the announcement to investors. The deal is expected to close in Q3 of this year.
Royal Unibrew CEO Lars Jensen told investors the acquisition would be “very important for the future growth of Royal Unibrew in the Americas region,” and would help relieve the export hurdles and freight costs that Royal Unibrew faces with its business in the Americas.
“We are adding capacity in Canada, which is also close to our U.S. business and over time we expect to serve most of Canada and partly U.S. from Amsterdam Brewery Co. Ltd., which will reduce transportation costs and our CO2 footprint,” Jensen said in the release. “On top of that, we will service the market much better and thereby protect ourselves against out of stock and transport congestions, which have increased significantly the last 18 months. Further, we will free up capacity on our current facilities in Denmark which will postpone certain capex needs.”
Founded in 1986, Amsterdam Brewery Co. operates both a brewhouse and a barrel house in Toronto, in addition to its primary brewery facility. The company has a normalized revenue of about $34 million, according to the release.
Beer CPI Increases +4.3% YOY in June; 12-Month Total CPI Increase Largest Since 1981
While beer price gains have decelerated slightly, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for beer still increased +4.3% in June compared to June 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
The increase was a slight improvement over May (+4.8% year-over-year) and April (+5% YOY).
The CPI measures the average price change paid by consumers for goods and services. In June, the CPI for all urban consumers increased +1.3% YOY (seasonally adjusted), after a +1% YOY increase in May. In the last 12 months, the CPI has grown +9.1% before seasonal adjustments – up from +8.6% in May – the largest 12-month increase since the period ending November 1981, according to the BLS.
Price increases for gas, shelter and food were the “largest contributors” to the CPI increase, according to the report.
Auction Set for Former Hermitage Brewing Equipment
An online auction for the equipment of the former San Jose, California-based Hermitage Brewing Company will be held next month.
Hermitage closed its doors in January after 13 years, announcing the news in a post on its now-defunct Instagram page. The brewery had also served as an incubator for other San Jose breweries such as Strike Brewing Co., Santa Clara Valley Brewing (closed in December 2019) and Almanac Beer Co. (now in Alameda, California).
Bidding for Hermitage’s brewing equipment will be open August 3-9, with the first lot closing August 9 at 11 a.m. PT. Included in the auction are nine fermentation tanks (four 100-barrel, five 50-barrel), four 125-barrel brite tanks and four 25-barrel brite tanks.
Further details are available here: here
San Diego’s Kensington Brewing Company For Sale as Turnkey Brewery
Kensington Brewing Company is in search of new ownership, San Diego Beer News reported this week.
Kensington co-founders Zack Knipe and Andy Rogers have decided to step away from the San Diego-based business after 10 years. The brewery’s last day of business is scheduled for September 18, but Knipe and Rogers hope to see the business sold as a turnkey operation before then.
Kensington has a 1,500 sq. ft. taproom on Adams Avenue in the Kensington neighborhood of San Diego, with a 24-tap draft system and three-barrel brewing system, according to Beer News. The location also boasts a 1,200 sq. ft. outdoor patio and a small kitchen.
Iowa to Allow Class C License Holders to Buy and Sell Beer from Local Retailers
Iowa businesses with class C license will be able to buy and resell beer and canned cocktails from area retailers beginning January 1, KRCG reported.
A new law will allow license holders who are short on stock to buy up to five cases of product every 24 hours. Existing law requires businesses to only sell beer products delivered through distributors, which can have delays of up to two weeks in the state, according to the report.
The Iowa Restaurant Association has celebrated the change.
Beer Institute General Counsel Testifies Against Aluminum Tariffs
Mary Jane Saunders, VP and general counsel at the Beer Institute (BI), testified before the International Trade Commision (ITC) Wednesday against “harmful” aluminum tariffs and their impact on the beer industry.
Aluminum tariffs have been a focus for the BI since the implementation of Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act by former President Donald Trump in 2018, which set several tariffs, including a 10% tariff on imported aluminum.
American brewers use more than 41 billion aluminum cans annually, according to Saunders in her testimony. She alleged the industry has been forced to pay Section 232 tariff prices on all aluminum, “regardless of whether the metal is from a country that is subject to the Section 232 tariffs,” including “aluminum products produced from scrap or recycled content, which is supposed to be exempt from the tariffs.”
The U.S. beverage industry has paid more than $1.4 billion in tariffs on cans and can sheet since March 2018, only 8% ($111 million) of which has gone to the U.S. Treasury, according to the BI. Saunders claimed the other 92% has gone to “third-party upstream companies, including Canadian smelters, U.S. smelters, traders, and rolling mills.”
“Section 232 tariffs reverberate throughout the supply chain,” she continued. “They raise production costs, inhibit investment, and impact consumer prices. Efforts to provide economic relief to American consumers have no effect if aluminum purchasers must pay a tariff regardless of whether what they buy is subject to a tariff.”
Earlier this month, leaders of the four largest U.S. beer manufacturers signed a letter to President Joe Biden, asking for the repeal of Section 232 tariffs. The CEOs said the tariffs “burden breweries of all sizes” and a tariff relief would result in “inflation relief.”