The reasons businesses do things are normally based on sound decision making processes. They exist by and for profit. The motivation may not be initially evident outside the boardroom. Time will tell.
“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclination, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” —John Adams (1770)
It’s not a conspiracy. They are monopolizing in plain sight, and I might add, it’s not even illegal. Sometimes they make large gains, and sometimes they make incremental gains, but they are always moving in the direction of monopoly.
They may or may not be conspiring to monopolize the homebrew market. I’d say that no one here has the depth of experience to say they are or they aren’t.
For the record, I’m playing the Devil’s Advocate here because otherwise these conversations about AB are dreadfully boring and repetitious.
We get it, they’re the bad guy, but to boil down every decision they make to a bunch of cigar chomping fat cats sitting in a board room plotting the demise of craft beer and homebrewing is cartoonish. It’s been said a number of times but bears repeating: Beer is business and BIG business at that. That means that there is going to be a broad spectrum of opinion on what constitutes “good” business practices and what constitutes the predatory form most disagree with.
So we swing back around to the fact that everyone has the opportunity to speak their minds with their wallets.
Also, one further point to clarify: I’m not begrudging or bemoaning anyone about their opinions. I don’t want to come off that way. Text has a way of muting nuances of an argument discussion and for me this is really just trying to have a rational dialogue about a topic that definitely has the ability to polarize people.
Yes, I do.
That doesn’t count, you live in the boonies anyway.
I do too, and I live in Boston.
Me three and I live in Los Angeles.
Me four and I live in Tampa.
It was a joke.
Me five and I live in Akron, Oh. (Not as big as Tampa, LA, & Boston, but big enough.)
Nobody is laughing. We see the problem.
In the interest of being able to say “I told you so”, or for the purposes of giving you guys a point in time to direct me too when you serve me my crow:
None of this will ever affect your ability to brew the beer you want, nor will dirty dealings in prices ever present themselves.
The big question is if walmart was all there was, would you shop there?
Selling homebrewing supplies is a business. Someone will always do that, provided there is enough demand. I’d be less worried about NB and more worried about bringing more folks into the hobby, wherever they happen to shop.
I don’t shop at wally world, but I do buy Miller products.
What really gets under my skin is the idea that it’s just “Big Beer” that behaves this way. I’m sure there are some less scrupulous craft breweries that’d love to force others out of business.
To answer this question, if walmart was the ONLY option, I’d have no choice. But what happens when they are able to drive all their competition out of business and then they pull out of that market 'cuz it’s not profitable enough? And then the nearest grocery store is 25-30 miles away. And the nearest hardware store, etc., etc. And it has happened. Walmart’s business model is not to reduce their competition, but to eliminate it.
And I’m a home brewer. I buy very little from any brewery, let alone anything from ‘Big Beer’. 
Just a side note for those who think the Homebrew community is not a big market, let’s remember that home Brewers in the US made an estimated 1.4 MILLION BARRELS of beer last year. That’s truly a lot of grain, hops, yeast, etc, especially when you consider homebrewers are less sensitive to price than commercial Brewers. Let’s also not forget that volume can make your costs go down-even if they’re not using Weyermann in their standard beers, the additional volume could bring down the price for any craft breweries they operate or have purchased. The biggest companies in the world, Carpet, Mobil, ABINbev, etc., have gotten where they are by having the most reliable and best supply chain and distribution in the market.
I also think that this is part of a long term “hearts and minds” campaign, which may not necessarily be US centric.
Honestly if AB did take over homebrewing, I don’t think they’d pull the plug on us. I think a Playstation/XBOX model where equipment gets sold cheap so premium priced “kits” become the profit line the more likely scenario.
There’s definitely substantial money in homebrewing, but it’s so disjointed as to not get anywhere. Look at the auto industry/hotrodding industry. The Big Three doesn’t like the aftermarket, and recently tried to kill off non-corporate modifying of stock tunes. SEMA stepped in and got involved, and the powers that be quietly dropped the idea. Whereas in brewing, we seem to not have that clout, mostly because aside from “Big Beer” all the rest of the money is in distribution. It’s almost exactly like if all car parts had to be bought from a dealership, even if someone was turning out parts that fixed a factory problem in his garage. The issue of distribution has been a cloud over homebrewing for a while, and it’s getting to a point were that issue is going to kill craft beer.
Think I’m overstating things? I live in Maryland. Go look up some of the laws that distributors very nearly got passed. “Big Beer” may well be a threat, but arguing over it while the distributors laugh their way to the bank isn’t helping.
I read that last year - super interesting.
I was wondering if they’re analyzing data (which recipe kits are most popular, etc.) in an attempt to understand or predict consumer preferences for craft beer.
I’m willing to bet that is just one of the things they’re looking at. I think the first thing they’re looking at is how to adapt their business plan to the homebrew market.
Well, Weyermann prices are down at my go to LHBS, so crisis averted!
Derek, have you read this? https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/05/five-things-i-learned-about-ab-inbev-while-reading.html
I was just actually reading through it a few minutes ago.
To be clear: I understand that there is some undesirable stuff that goes on in ALL big business, and big beer is no exception. Furthermore, this topic tends to hit home a little harder because, as a collective, homebrewers are a passionate subset of the craft beer community.
I think it’s important for people to stand up for what they believe in, but I also feel we need to separate ourselves ever so slightly from the emotional aspects of these discussions in order to stay objective. I feel that a portion of beer journalism out right now is heavily biased toward the anti-corporate beer mentality, which is fine because we know that like other businesses in the world, their dealings arent always savory. However, we also have to realize that this situation is a lot like a bastadized version of a famous Otto Von Bismarck quote:
“If you like business and sausage, you should never watch either one being made.”
What ABI may or may not be planning or implementing is likely to seem undesirable to a group of people who are passionate about the enjoyment and creation of great beer but it’s no different than many other big businesses. Does that mean it’s okay? Or ethical? Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on where you stand. We should be more focused on the predatory stuff rather than whether executives have basic beer knowledge. We don’t want to lose the forest for the trees here, as there are people in positions in all types of companies who don’t have explicit knowledge of the inner workings of that business. In short, their business IS business and not necessarily THE business they have business in.
I think that big beer should be taking on craft toe to toe, i.e. use their technologically advanced breweries and CREATE their own craft beers. Let the merits of the product push the competitors out. I live in a beer rich region (Central NY), where distributors, whether beholden to ABI or not, have great pride in, and admiration for, the local fare. Local breweries like Saranac, Southern Tier, Ommegang, Ithaca, etc. have a big presence in my local stores. I realize that may not be the case everywhere and maybe that’s a blind spot for me.
I get both sides of the debate and typically i’m just trying to play the “Devil’s Advocate” so we don’t polarize. The more objective you stay, the better equipped you are to meet an opposing opinion with reason.
I love my LHBSs and I want to patronize them if I can.