Trade News

→ Food & Wine recently named its “20 Best Regional Supermarket Chains of All Time” and three of the regional chains on the list of 20 happen to fall in our territory. Lucky us!

Dorothy Lane Market. This Dayton area staple began as a fruit stand in 1948. Today DLM has three Dayton area locations.

Heinen’s Fine Foods. This retail partner started in Cleveland, Ohio in 1929 and now has 19 locations in the Cleveland area.

Jungle Jim’s International Market. Jungle’s also began life as a produce stand in 1971. Now with two Cincinnati area locations, Jungle Jim’s bills itself as “so much more than a grocery store!”

We are proud to have these stores as retail partners and say cheers for a job well done!

→ Since the founding of our great nation in 1776, beer has always been an important part of our country’s history. Thrillist put together a list of “30 Beers That Changed America.”

Almost half of the brews on this trend setting list can be found in our warehouses.

→ Can inventory nationwide has tightened due to the large shift in beer sales from on-premise draft to off-premise cans. In an interview with Ball Corporation, the largest can manufacturer in the U.S., said “certain canned beverage SKUs have been in short supply, particularly 12 oz. slim cans. In part, the shortage of those cans is being caused by the popularity of hard seltzers, sales of which were skyrocketing before the COVID-19 pandemic changed beverage alcohol purchasing behaviors.” That segment’s leaders, Mark Anthony Brands’ White Claw and Boston Beer Company’s Truly Hard Seltzer, both use the slim can package.

→ When lockdown began in Ireland, the Guinness brewery at St James’s Gate in Dublin reduced its operations to a minimal level to maintain its yeast stocks, the first time it has done so since the 1916 Easter Rising rebellion. Guinness retrieved millions of liters of stout beer and ale from pubs and bars that had closed their doors and repurposed the leftover beer to fertilize Christmas trees as part of an environmentally friendly forestry project.

→ Private family-owned French investment company EPI announced it has purchased a majority stake in Folio Fine Wine Partners. Heidelberg carries the Folio Wine portfolio in all markets with the exception of Cincinnati.

→ Corona Hard Seltzer shipped over 3 million cases in quarter two and grew to near a six share of seltzer in IRI and achieved 65% ACV (distribution). All that with just a variety pack! Individual flavors will be coming later this year.

→ For the first half of 2020 Mike’s Hard Lemonade is up a whopping 125%. An impressive increase from a brand who finished 2019 with 90% depletion growth. White Claw continues to lead the charge for Mark Anthony Brands, up 251% nationally year to date.