TTB and IRS Engage in ‘Official Activity’ at Southern Glazer’s Bay Area Office
Regulators from the federal agencies that oversee taxation and alcohol regulation raided the Union City, California, offices of Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits yesterday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Spokespeople for the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) confirmed to the Chronicle that representatives from their agencies were on-site at Southern Glazer’s Bay Area office. Neither office shared what the purpose of the “official activity” was, but IRS public information officer Jennifer Chiou said the agencies “were there most of the day.”
Southern Glazer’s is the country’s largest wine and spirits distributor with more than 42 distribution centers that carry 7,000 brands and make 6.4 million deliveries to retailers annually. It operates in every state except for Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, and also serves Washington, D.C., and Canada.
The multistate distributor did not return a request for comment.
Brewers Association to Provide Travel Grants for CBC Attendees
The Brewers Association (BA) will offer travel grants to 25 recipients to attend the 2023 Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) next May in Nashville, Tennessee, the trade organization announced Thursday.
“We have seen firsthand the professional development benefits that come from the emerging leaders on our staff attending and presenting at CBC,” Heather Sanborn, a member of the BA’s DEI committee and co-owner of Portland, Maine-based Rising Tide Brewing Company, said in a press release. “As a small brewery in one corner of the country, the cost of sending employees to CBC can be prohibitive. A program like this could help breweries like ours lower that barrier.”
The BA’s DEI committee has been developing the travel grant program for more than two years. It will provide grants up to $1,500 to 25 employees of qualifying breweries, which include:
- Contract brands;
- Alternating proprietorship breweries;
- Microbreweries (breweries making fewer than 15,000 barrels annually sold primarily through distribution);
- Taproom breweries (breweries making fewer than 6 million barrels annually sold primarily onsite without significant food service);
- And brewpubs (breweries making fewer than 6 million barrels annually sold primarily onsite with food service).
“Many individuals employed by breweries who are members of the Brewers Association don’t realize that as employees they are part of that membership and can directly access BA resources,” BA membership manager Sarah Billiu said in the release. “They simply need to be added to their brewery’s roster.”
Preference will be given to applicants who have had a seminar proposal accepted, first-time attendees and prospective attendees who may face “cultural or situational barriers to attending the conference,” the BA wrote in the release.
Applications will be accepted through December 16, and recipients will be notified in January. The conference is slated for May 7-10, 2023.
“A more engaged, educated, and vibrant community benefits us all,” BA equity and inclusion partner Dr. J Jackson-Beckham said in the release. “Communal investments in the future of the industry are the key to making positive impacts that lasts. Be on the lookout for a ‘Pay it Forward’ option during checkout for CBC Registration. A small contribution could make a huge impact on someone else’s career.”
FTC Proposes Order Against Drizly and CEO for Data Security ‘Carelessness’
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has proposed an order against Uber-owned Drizly, alleging the alcohol e-commerce platform “failed to use appropriate information security practices to protect consumers’ personal information,” resulting in a data breach that affected 2.5 million consumers.
According to the FTC’s complaint, Drizly CEO James Rellas and the company were made aware of data security problems in 2018, when informed that an employee was storing sensitive company login information insecurely on GitHub, a software development site. Despite the incident, Drizly allegedly did not implement safe practices for data security, including requiring “unique and complex passwords or multifactor authentication” for employee GitHub accounts.
Additionally, Rellas allegedly expanded Drizly’s team with several high-level hires, including “senior executives dedicated to finance, legal, marketing, retail, human resources, product, and analytics,” but did not bring on “a senior executive responsible for the security of consumers’ personal information collected and maintained by Drizly,” according to the report.
As a result, in July 2020, “a malicious actor accessed [a Drizly] executive’s GitHub account by reusing credentials from an unrelated breach,” gaining access to 2.5 million records of user data. Drizly “did not itself detect the breach” and learned of the attack “from media and social media reports describing its customers’ accounts for sale on dark web forums,” according to the complaint.
“Respondents’ failures to provide reasonable security for consumers’ personal information have caused or are likely to cause substantial injury to consumers,” the FTC wrote.
The proposed order would require Rellas and Drizly to destroy any consumer data that is “not necessary for it to provide products or services to consumers,” limit future data collection and implement a comprehensive security program with safeguards to prevent a future incident. The inclusion of Rellas individually would require him to continue these practices at any future company he moves to where he is a majority owner, CEO or senior officer, according to a FTC blog post.
“Our proposed order against Drizly not only restricts what the company can retain and collect going forward but also ensures the CEO faces consequences for the company’s carelessness,” Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s bureau of consumer protection, said in the post. “CEOs who take shortcuts on security should take note.”
Gopuff Lays Off 250 As Part of Plan to Cut 10% of its Workforce
E-commerce convenience delivery platform Gopuff laid off 250 employees this month as part of its previously announced plan to layoff 10% of its workforce, Bloomberg reported.
In July, Gopuff co-CEOs Yakir Gola and Rafael Ilishayev informed investors that the company would be letting go of about 1,500 workers in an effort to “remove overhead and drive operational efficiencies.” The news followed an April announcement that the company would be eliminating 3% of its about 15,000 global workforce to save an estimated $40 million.
The latest round primarily affected customer service staff and a mix of both full-time and temporary employees, according to Bloomberg.
A spokesperson told Bloomberg “the most recent impacts to the customer service team were part of this reorganization which we’ve been implementing for the last three months.” According to the report, the layoffs were scheduled to go out “months ago.” Gopuff VP of people Karen Fascenda allegedly sent an email to employees earlier this month, stating “the delayed action was to ensure we maintain business continuity,” and that “there are no plans for incremental layoffs.”
CGA: 1 in 3 Consumers Planning to Visit On-Premise for Halloween
About a third of consumers plan to visit an on-premise establishment to celebrate Halloween this year, according to the market research firm CGA.
The stat increases to 53% when confined to consumers aged 21-34.
“Nearly a third of U.S. consumers visited the on-premise to celebrate Oktoberfest, so it’s no surprise to see a significant percentage are also planning to visit bars and restaurants for Halloween — with consumers continuing to prioritize the channel for social and special occasions,” Matthew Crompton, CGA regional director, North America, wrote in the report.
Drink-led venues such as sports bars, neighborhood bars and nightclubs are expected to get the most traffic. Consumers are most likely to visit during happy hour, early evening and late evening, according to the report.
The on-premise has recorded positive trends in October so far, increasing sales velocity +4% year-over-year (YoY) in the most recently recorded week (ending October 15) and +7% in the previous week (ending October 8). The latest week’s velocity increases were due in part to a +9% increase in check value versus 2021, despite a -1% decline in traffic.
Of the five key states observed by CGA, Illinois (+12%) recorded the largest YoY increase in velocity, as well as the largest week-over-week increase (+12%). California (+6% YoY) recorded the second largest increase, followed by New York (+7% YoY), Florida (+4%) and Texas (+1%).
Florida’s on-premise accounts struggled the past few weeks as it recorded from the effects of Hurricane Ian, recording a -24% decrease in velocity between the week ending September 17 and the week ending October 1. However, the “trends have since recovered to normal seasonal levels,” with a +6% increase week-over-week, according to Crompton.
Dogfish Head Miami Taproom to Close November 5
Dogfish Head is preparing for its Miami taproom’s final day of service on November 5.
The closure, which was announced last month, comes a little more than two years after the outpost opened. Boston Beer-owned Dogfish Head took the space over from former sibling brand Concrete Beach Brewing. The company cited increasing rent as its reason for leaving.
In an FAQ about the taproom’s final days, Dogfish Head wrote that it has “no definite plans to share at this time” in response to a question about finding more affordable real estate in Miami, adding “we’ll never say never.”
“We are always looking for new opportunities to extend our brand within local communities,” Dogfish Head wrote.
Dogfish Head advised members of its Off-Centered Society to use their rewards points before the taproom’s final day. Dogfish Head “do[es] not have plans to continue production of SoFlo Pills,” a signature Miami taproom offering.
In its home state of Delaware, Dogfish Head operates a taproom at its brewery in Milton, two brewpubs in Rehoboth Beach and an inn in Lewes.