Craft breweries - Does service matter?

Greetings,

I am currently working my way through a bit of a conundrum. I love craft beers, but often it feels like the breweries are negligent in showing any appreciation or support for the people that actually sell and drink their beer. There are only a small number of breweries that take an active roll in connecting with the people that actually sell and drink their beer in the Louisville area and this has been troubling me for quite some time.
It first became apparent to me while working for the Whole Foods Market as the beer buyer. Approximately one out of ten breweries actually responded to emails about their products and the promotion of their products. I realized then that many breweries do not play an active role in promoting their own product and that the sales representatives from the distributors were incapable of providing real representation for all of their breweries. (It isn't the fault of the reps though, they're assigned far too many breweries, over far too broad of an area, to provide sufficient assistance.)

The past four years at The Charlestown Pizza Company have made the abysmal service in the brewing industry even more apparent. Most breweries continue to operate under the premise that once the beer leaves the bottling line that their work is done. The promotion and sales of the their products are left in the hands of overwhelmed sales reps, retailers, and servers. There are a few exceptions to this, that stand out in Louisville. The breweries that we see offering tastings/promotional events etc (Bells, Founders, Schlafly, etc) seem to understand what it takes to connect with the people selling/drinking their beer. Those breweries are the exception though, out of the hundreds of breweries available to us in Indiana & Kentucky there are less than a dozen that offer regular opportunities to connect brewer and consumer.

I find the lack of involvement from most breweries in the actual sale of their products appalling. The vast number of new breweries brewing quality products should be having an effect on the nature of the service provided by those breweries.
The sad state of affairs is that great beer establishments have become great because of the passion of individuals that own/operate those establishments, not through the effort of the breweries. The countless hours of searching for the latest offerings, writing promotional material (menus, shelf tags, etc), attempting to contact breweries to arrange events, etc is generally left in the hands of one or two dedicated people that have a real passion for beer. Rarely, if ever, does a brewery show up at the front door with a strategy for pushing their product.

So, after careful consideration I will be attempting a bit of an experiment with the beer selection at The Charlestown Pizza Company. I will be evaluating all of the breweries that we currently carry by the quality of service they offer to the retailer and consumer in addition to evaluating them by the quality of their product. Great breweries brewing great beer have become the norm. The distinction between great breweries will be the quality of service provided to the retailer and consumer.
In the coming months, I will be eliminating breweries that show no desire to connect with their customers via the CPC and adding breweries that have a passion for their product and the people that sell and drink it.

Many of you know that we stopped carrying Three Floyds beer over a year ago solely on the quality of service provided by the brewery. I believed then as I believe now, that the quality of the product is not the only factor when alternative choices are available.

Thank you
Shawn Vest

Mr Vest,
I could probably talk about this issue for hours. I will try to get to some of my points quickly. I would never discourage experimentation, if you think something good can come from it. I think I have a bit of info that is relavant from 10 year on the retail side, and 6 on the manufacturing side.
While I worked at Party Source of the roughly 800 beers we carried I maybe met 20 folks who worked at those breweries in our store. If I wanted to meet the brewers or their reps I would go to Festival, trade shows,conferences, and or beer events held close by. You can not always expect small companies by todays standards to have a dedicated account rep for every account they have. I am not making excuses, I am simply stating that would be a quick way to break the bank for a small company. We have to rely on our distributors in some situations.
I have plenty of passion for what I do, and a career in the business to show for it, and what I do is make beer. Our beer is fairly popular and well recieved. So I make a lot of it and do not have a lot of time to do much in the way of personal visits to all of our accounts. I rely on the one person in our company whos job it is to represent our brand to all of our accounts. He is amazingly busy supporting our beer in all five states we distribute to with the help of our distributors. When he travels he has to make judgement calls. He has to make a call on how much passion the accounts have for craft beer. He tries to have an event in the best bar or retail store in every area our beers are available. Hopefully these events draw out the folks that have the passion for craft beer. When I can, I get out to Festivals where I can get maximum face time with the folks that want to meet and discuss our beers.

My passion is making beer, I have to rely on others on how it is advertised, distributed, supported. My job is to make the absolute best beer I can.I try my best to meet everyone who drinks, distributes, and supports it. My girlfriend will tell you I spend enough time at it already. Does service matter? If you are th point of sale, hell yes it does. But from a manufacturers standpoint not nearly as much as quality of the beer. Good Luck

Shawn,

Setting aside whether or not I agree with your approach (I'm still getting my head around that), if you are wed to this approach, then why not market yourself to the breweries? Send off a business proposal to each brewery's representative entitled "Why Y Brewery Should be Featured at The Charlestown Pizza Company." Outline what's in it for them (sales, exposure, your dedication to craft beer) and outline what your expectations are. If you make the arrangement as beneficial as possible for both parties, you might find some interest. Be polite about it but find a way to say, "I'm tired of shitty business arrangements, so if you are interested in working together to push craft beer, let's talk." Have serious conversations with those who show interest. Kick the other ones to the curb. Make some decisions and, given however many taps you have, feature the beers you want to feature - and push the companies you want to support. If everyone treats you like garbage, accept that as business, and sell (or don't sell) whatever the hell you want to.

When someone asks you why you do (or do not) carry X, say, "I hold this company up to high standards for both product and service and, unfortunately, I've found that X company does not share that investment." Granted, if you stand too strongly on principles, everyone might be having water with their pizza.

Just my two cents. But to me, this seems like some type of modified business pitch. I don't have my head completely around it yet, but it's been fun to think over.

Thank you for the response Mr. Halblieb,

I am glad that you responded and that you have a passion for brewing great beer, as I enjoy many BBC products and have enjoyed them since the BBC began operation in Louisville.

However, I believe that the changing nature of craft beer necessitates a change in service.

"If I wanted to meet the brewers or their reps I would go to Festival, trade shows,conferences, and or beer events held close by. You can not always expect small companies by todays standards to have a dedicated account rep for every account they have. I am not making excuses, I am simply stating that would be a quick way to break the bank for a small company. We have to rely on our distributors in some situations. "

This quote illustrates my point that the responsibility has been placed on the retailers' shoulders. Why should another small business owner invest time and money into researching a brewery's products? Should I take time away from my business to attend festivals and other events for a brief conversation with a brewery rep (or it could just be a hired hand from the distributors pouring beer instead)?
Let's talk about breaking the bank for a small company. Breweries continue to ask top dollar for many of their specialty products, yet can't take the time to provide any reason why a retailer should carry their specialty products.
I don't believe that I asked for a dedicated account representative for every account, but a visit or an event from an actual brewery rep isn't asking a lot, is it?

The points you are making only confirm my position. You have one person covering the five states that you distribute in and readily admit that from your perspective the quality of the product outweighs the service you provide to the people that actually sell said product.

Thanks

As NABC's Minister of Propaganda, I might feel the glare of the spotlight here, but having been on several sides of this, I appreciate the nuance in what Shawn's saying. He's wanting information and representation. He's not asking for schwag, i.e., plying the staff with goodies to encourage product placement.

I'll be a devil's advocate and throw this out: Is it that many breweries find that in order to sell enough beer to cover their financial exposure, they must extend distribution beyond what can be reasonable supported by in-house sales staff, as opposed to increasing sales in their own backyards?

Schwag is nice, but proper signage, tastings/events/training/education are far better than key chains and shirts. Glassware though is always appreciated

Shawn

That's interesting that you cite Founder's as having good customer relations/service. I'm still waiting for an email from them answering my question from February, 2008 (when I discovered them on a road trip to Michigan) as to when they'll enter the Louisville market. By chance, about two weeks later I saw a Founder's-branded truck rolling down Main Street, but I don't understand what's so hard about writing a perfunctory email stating they'd be here soon.

At least in Indiana, if we so choose, we can self-distribute, because there are too few craft-only wholesalers, and too many "no other choice" wholesalers, the latter tending to be unable to focus on their craft segments owing to institutional corporate cultures built around mass-market brands, and those major import brands that survive on schwag. Even when brewery reps clear paths, wholesalers can muck it up through indifference and a failure to get the message from those with understanding to those on the shop floor.

""This quote illustrates my point that the responsibility has been placed on the retailers' shoulders. Why should another small business owner invest time and money into researching a brewery's products? Should I take time away from my business to attend festivals and other events for a brief conversation with a brewery rep (or it could just be a hired hand from the distributors pouring beer instead)? ""

I admire your principles, but I do not think it wise to experiment on your customer base. The simple laws of supply and demand can explain to you why there are not sales reps knocking down your door every day to do tastings and give you swag with cartoon characters on it. Your customers want certain beers, if you do not carry them they will go somewhere else that does. Until a time when beers sales become more like Hmm ( I can not think of another industry segment where I expect to see a manufacturer rep at the point of sale)..

As far and high pricing goes, the price of our beer to you involves a distributors cut as well. The price of hops has been extremely volatile over the last few years. Malt pricing has been steady to this point but this years harvest will be the worst in years and I have been informed that the price of malt will be going up more at once than it ever has this harvest. Demand for crafts are at an all time high. Some breweries are raising prices some are pulling back distribution. We have chosen the later, and will most likely be doing it again soon. So if you want it or not you may get your wish, but it might not be for the reason you think. The down side is your selection may dwindle, the up side is small breweries will just distribute to areas right around them. Good luck.

I have a different point of view. I feel very fortunate to be able to get such a wide range of these (in most cases) very small batch products. I'd much rather take a little bit of initiative myself and let them spend their time on quality products. Most brewers are rather forthcoming with information on their websites, and I've rarely had a difficult time getting ahold of their sales reps, the people in charge of actually disseminating the info we need. Honestly all the information you need is rarely more than a google search away. I think that it is because of the digital age that we live in that we're even able to procure some of these brands.

My point- if given the choice to stock these products and seek out a little information on my own or to not have the option and be forced to only stock the few "craft breweries" that bud or miller coors deems worth propping up I'm always going to pick option one. I don't begrudge them for having a full plate.

Also- in the rare cases that there isn't much info on the web, you'd be surprised how easy it is to just pick up the phone and get an answer immediately. If they don't have a good web presence it usually indicates a brewer who is still into "older" technology. Phone call does it 9 out of 10 times.

Joel H, your experience with Founders is a great example of my point (sorry it was with Founders, but we each have different experiences). Is it really that much trouble to respond to emails from your customers or retailers?

Mr. Halblieb and I obviously have different opinions about his matter, but lets investigate this a little further.

"The simple laws of supply and demand can explain to you why there are not sales reps knocking down your door every day to do tastings and give you swag with cartoon characters on it. Your customers want certain beers, if you do not carry them they will go somewhere else that does."

The simple law of supply and demand does not explain why sales reps from breweries are not visiting their retailers. (When in fact I've been visited four times in the last month by brewery reps)
The facts of the matter are the the supply of craft beer continues to increase as does the demand, but not at the same rate. I would argue that new breweries/products far outpace the actual demand for craft beer. The current supply allows me (and our customers) to choose from hundreds of breweries, i am hoping that breweries will differentiate themselves from the herd by providing great products and great service.

As i said before, schwag is nice, but not nearly as effective as events/tastings etc. I'm also not asking for cartoon characters, but actual visits from brewery reps is not that much to ask for.

Just so we're clear, I have served beer for quite a while in the area and I've never seen someone leave an establishment because they did not carry a particular craft beer. However, I've seen people leave because the establishment did not have mass produced swill. No one to my knowledge forgoes a visit to the Charlestown Pizza Company because we don't carry Alpha King (they choose an alternative craft beer with similar characteristics).

I also understand why the price of craft beer is high and what factors influence the pricing, what I don't understand is the inability to provide promotional assistance with new/seasonal products that often are priced much higher than standard offerings.

"Some breweries are raising prices some are pulling back distribution. We have chosen the later, and will most likely be doing it again soon. So if you want it or not you may get your wish, but it might not be for the reason you think. "

Perhaps, choosing to scale back distribution may allow you to more effectively connect with your customer base as attempting to cover five states with one individual may be either too ambitious or too financially conservative.

Jeremy, I agree with you that we are very fortunate to have such options available to us. I actually don't mind doing a lot of the leg work myself, I'm just tired of doing all of it. Yes, the information is "usually" readily available on the websites and other internet locations, but often it is not timely or directly related to when you have to pre-order said items or if those items are even available in your region. Thus as a retailer you have to stay a few steps ahead of your distributor sales rep and let them know that you want to make sure they order an extra case of the special XXX from brewery YYY, even though it won't be released for another 8 months and the labels only just got approved (which is the only way you found out about said product was by monitoring the label approval site maintained by the FDA) ...... sheesh I'm tired already, and now I need to make some signage to let people know we'll have this special offering and remember that in 8 months I'm expecting and incredibly expensive couple of cases.

If the only alternative to terrible service were the breweries propped up by InBev & SAB I would be with you 100%. There are other alternatives in 2011, there are hundred of breweries available and many of them strive to provide good service to the people that sell and drink their products.

To consistently allow breweries to put their head in the sand and say, I just brew great beer, is ridiculous and antiquated.
The passionate people involved in the sales and consumption side of this industry have for far too long been too happy simply to receive great beer, like giddy teenagers awaiting the newest pop song from their latest idol. 10 years ago they anxiously awaited the latest arrival from their favorite brewery, being only too willing to shell out a small fortune for the chance to achieve beer nirvana. Those days are falling behind us faster than the use of CDs, today you don't need to be a 9th Level beer nerd to get your hands on a great American Pale Ale, hell you even have more than a dozen great APAs to choose from.
My point, is that when all is said and done.
I have space in my home refrigerator for a six pack of APA - Which APA do I choose? The APA that I tasted at an event? Or the APA from the brewery that says they brew great beer, 'nuff said?

I have space for several American Pale Ales in the roster at the Charlestown Pizza Company. Which APAs do I choose? The brewery that offers to hep promote their product in my establishment? Or the brewery that says they're too busy, overwhelmed, over worked, etc?

Or do I rely on the beer advocate, rate beer, google results?

Shawn

I usually just ask my distributor for a bunch of samples I'm interested in, taste them, and order the ones I like.

Joel H, your experience with Founders is a great example of my point (sorry it was with Founders, but we each have different experiences). Is it really that much trouble to respond to emails from your customers or retailers?

Yeah, it was puzzling, to say the least. I still love Founders and their many fine beers, so no harm, no foul.

I've felt Shawn's pain.

In the end, the criteria Shawn chooses to use in determining his establishment's offerings may differ from that of others, but the important thing to me is this: It is owner/management-driven.

In other words, it is Shawn and not schwag; Shawn and not clueless wholesaler reps; Shawn and not a zillion dollar ad campaign on the part of a multinational brewery. This thread affords us a glimpse into the thought process, and a look at some of the factors that go into making decisions in today's crowded marketplace.

Significantly, Shawn is making these decisions, and that's what makes CPC special (among other noteworthy attributes). His criteria are on display, and there's nothing unfair about that. Whatever his ultimate choice, he'll explain it and sell it, and CPC's customers will know.

I find this refreshing. As someone who is now in the day-to-day business of selling beer to folks like Shawn, I also find it challenging, which is at it should be.