Six trade associations have written to the US government to call for uniformity in the delay of federal excise tax payments for domestic and imported alcohol amid the pandemic.
The European spirits sector – represented by spiritsEUROPE – has partnered with Close the Glass Loop to boost glass packaging collection to 90 percent by 2030 and put more recycled glass back in the “bottle to bottle packaging loop”.
Wine and spirits distribution firms Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) and Young’s Market Company have pledged US$400,000 to the World’s Biggest Tip Jar in support of hospitality workers during the pandemic.
Necessity, it is said, is the mother of invention. And the wine industry is proving inventive right now as it struggles to remain relevant in an environment where it cannot sell its products to customers or engage with them in traditional ways.
Brokering has been a part of the wine business for generations—generally, most brokers bring wines to market through existing distributors. One online business, LibDib has been challenging that model for a few years, but in only five or six U.S. states.
With the majority of bars and pubs worldwide still closed to consumers, beer manufactures have struggled to shift their sales back into retail to offset their losses and even big brands such as Heineken are no exception – having reported a 14 per cent decline in beer sales in March.
There aren’t many industries as focused on years as wine. A vintage is slapped on a label proudly, a declaration of a certain time and place for all imbibers to know.
As consumers become increasingly conscious of what they put in their bodies and the environmental impact their tread has, brands are starting to react, pivoting marketing and production efforts to embrace sustainable practices.
Wine sales in Nielsen-measured off-premise channels grew by 36.5 percent for the week ending April 11, 2020 compared to the same period in the prior year, and wine sales increased by 5.2 percent compared to the prior week, an increase which was attributed to a shift in Easter timing.
For many independent restaurant operators that sell alcohol, the time spent during the lockdown has not been a happy hour, especially for those who continue to make payments to maintain their liquor licenses despite a lack of revenues.