October Trade News
Wine Vines Analytics Distributor Market Service has named its “Top 10 Wine Distributors for 2021” and Heidelberg has made the list at #8!
The rankings are based on a unique model that incorporates proprietary data from Wines Vines Analytics’ Distributor Market Service, as well as total market size, number of U.S. wineries represented and other factors.
The rankings do not include the wholesalers’ beer and liquor business and include Washington, D.C. in the number of states served.
Great Lakes Brewing’s Agave Twist Ranch Water Hard Seltzer will debut in Northern Ohio this month! Gluten-free and brewed with 100% real agave and whole fruit purée, Agave Twist is a crafted, refreshing hard seltzer with a twist of fresh fruit flavor in each satisfyingly sparkling sip.
GLBC’s first hard seltzer launches in cans in a variety 12-Pack featuring four flavors: Black Cherry, Lemon Lime, Blackberry, and Pineapple. Agave Twist is 4.5% alcohol, gluten-free, made with real fruit and agave, contains no artificial sweeteners and has just 100 calories per 12 oz. can. Agave Twist Variety 12-Packs begin shipping exclusively in Northern Ohio with Heidelberg Lorain. GLBC plans to expand Agave Twist’s distribution in 2022.
The Brewers Association (BA) awarded 290 medals to 265 breweries across the country during the 2021 Great American Beer Festival awards ceremony held in September. The best beers in 97 beer categories covering 175 different beer styles (including all subcategories) were awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals during the 35th annual competition. Once again Heidelberg is proud to distribute multiple medal winning breweries from our portfolios in both Ohio and Kentucky!
Category 5: Pumpkin Beer – 39 Entries
Gold: Night Owl, Elysian Brewing, Seattle, WA
Category 17: Other Strong Beer – 68 Entries
Silver: Dee Wright Imperial Brown, Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR
Category 26: Brett Beer – 55 Entries
Bronze: Matilda, Goose Island Beer Co. Chicago, IL
Category 36: American-Style Lager – 103 Entries
Silver: Stampede, Avery Brewing Co., Boulder, CO
Category 88: Belgian-Style Abbey Ale – 98 Entries
Gold: Trippel, New Belgium Brewing Co., Asheville, NC
Low- or no-alcohol beverages worldwide launched at a compound annual rate of 20.9% between 2016 and 2020, according to Innova Market Insights data. Generation Z consumers drink less per capita than older generations, and three-fourths of US consumers want more non-alcoholic choices for social gatherings, according to Berenberg Research. In 2020, sales of non-alcohol beer rose by roughly 39%, according to market research company IRI.
This year’s Oregon Vineyard and Winery Report ranks as the worst in the almost 40 year history of the report because of the global pandemic, West Coast growing conditions during the 2020 vintage and deadly wildfires that led to lower yields in the vineyard. The University of Oregon’s Institute for Policy Research and Engagement, which generates the report, estimates the value of the wine grape production fell by nearly 34%, a drop in value of $80 million. Despite the struggles with growing the grapes Oregon’s wine sales to distributors was up 3.5% for the year and export sales were up 24%.
Large paraffin candles and other measures protected some grand cru vineyards from France’s late spring frosts. Winemaker Laurent Pinson said lower production will still force price increases for Chablis, 70% of which is exported to the US, Asia and northern Europe.
According to Gallup’s 2021 Alcohol Beverage Study released in August, 60% of US adults currently report drinking alcoholic beverages such as liquor, wine or beer, marking a decrease from 65% in 2019 when the measure was last tracked.
The survey found drinkers in the US remain most likely to consume beer (39%) rather than wine (31%) or liquor (27%). Only 15 percent of U.S. men who drink alcohol said they preferred wine over beer and spirits and that the typical U.S. wine drinker was a college educated woman 55 or older. On the other hand, men preferred beer by a more than 3 to 1 margin.
The National Restaurant Association (NRA) projects food and beverage sales in the restaurant and foodservice industry will reach $789 billion in 2021, up nearly 20% from 2020, according to a mid-year supplement to the association’s 2021 State of the Restaurant Industry Report released in early September.
