The Business of Beer with Stone Distributing Co. Senior Director, Chad Heath
The Business of Beer, Episode 60: Stone Distributing Co. Senior Director, Chad Heath
In this episode of the Business of Beer with Andy “The Beerman” Coppock, we are joined by Stone Distributing Co. Senior Director, Chad Heath. He joins us to talk about how breweries partner with Stone Distributing Co., the 3 tier system, what style trends he sees in distribution, and much more!
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Show Notes:
-You’ve been at Stone quite a while, how did you get your start there?
– Were you in the beer business before stone? If not, what did you do?
– Can you explain what the 3 tier system is and what it’s purpose is supposed to be?
– In California and a few other states, there are some exceptions to the 3 tier that allow for self distribution. How does that work?
– Stone is unique for many things, one of those being that they operate their own distributing company. How does that work within the 3 tier system since the whole point of the system was to keep breweries from owning the distribution channels and retail channels?
– What brands does Stone represent here in SoCal?
– How does Stone Distributing balance between selling the ‘house’ brand vs the distributed brands? (Example; Avery White Rascal vs Stone Citrusy Wit)
– How does a brewery partner with Stone Distributing?
– Does size matter?
– What effect do the recent mergers and acquisitions in the industry have on the distribution side?
– Jason Notte from Market Watch wrote recently about the potential “SKU-mageddon”, the proliferation of too many SKU’s from too many breweries. How does Stone Distributing account for that?
– Will this massive consolidation make it harder for small brands to get shelf space?
– On the distribution side of things, what style trends are you seeing?
– West Coast IPA was the rage for a long time. Then Kettle Sours and Gose’s. Now we have the so called “New England IPA”. What are you seeing on the frontlines?
– Do you have a favorite style?
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