StateWays is the only magazine exclusively covering the control state system within the beverage alcohol industry, with annual updates from liquor control commissions and alcohol control boards and yearly fiscal reporting from control jurisdictions
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/307773
StateWays Q www.stateways.com Q May/June 2014 36 control states are modernizing their wholesale and retail systems and legislatures are focusing on effi ciency and monetary return of their systems, partnership between control states and industry members is crucial to balance state and consumer needs with responsible behavior. The Rémy Cointreau USA, Inc. portfolio of premium and superpremium brands offers a benefi cial market opportunity focused on profi t and prestige. Our fl agship brand, Louis XIII de Rémy Martin, as well as our other premium brands are celebrated for their prestige amongst all luxury spirits. Equally noteworthy is the performance by new products, such as Remy V, Cointreau Noir and Mount Gay Black Barrel, which were launched recently, which appeal to younger and more upmarket consumers. Rémy Cointreau USA, Inc. specializes in the development of premium brands and is committed to introducing the highest quality products and service to control states. Today's challenging times call for greater coordination and cooperation between industry and control states to strengthen awareness, convenience and choice for the consumer, while ensuring responsible business practices. We at Rémy Cointreau USA, Inc. look forward to anoth er year partnering with the NABCA and its Chairman Jeff Anderson as he leads the association to balance the challenge to "protect" and to "serve" citizens and consumers. Cooperation between industry and regulators is needed to provide revenue to the states while serving our consumers and enabling the growth for safe communities. We will work conscientiously with the NABCA and control states to serve consumers in a socially responsible way, for our mutual benefi t. Marc Satterthwaite Vice President, Director Control States and Canada Brown-Forman A n interesting point about people is that likes and dislikes, over time, change. And, often, it only makes sense when you can refl ect on history versus trying to understand it within one point in time. For instance, many do not realize that in the U.S., our mothers and fathers drank far more coffee than we do — almost twice as much. How can that be when we have the proverbial Starbucks on every corner today? And, they drank it one way, as coffee, with some "personalization" through cream and/or sugar. Today, Starbuck's will tell you that there are over 75,000 ways to "have your coffee" when you visit one of their stores. How can we be consuming less coffee now than before? Well, one reason is that we stopped drinking it with meals and switched to soft drinks. Coca-Cola tasted better with that blue plate special at the diner than a cup of piping hot coffee. And, soft drinks, initially, were positioned as healthier than coffee (don't forget that cigarettes were also recommended by doctors back then also). This may explain our current societal problem with obesity and diabetes — but that is for another article… So, what is the cause of changes like this one — some of which we like and others we abhor? You! That's right, You — the almighty consumer! If we did not desire change, it could not happen, and we would still be drinking hot coffee with our hamburger at lunch. Despite the fact that we say we do not like all of these changes and additional choices, our wallets and pocketbooks reveal behavior that is quite the opposite. The You I am talking about is far larger than one person and includes your family, friends, neighbors and acquaintances who are all amalgamated into one big You. This collective You cannot be denied Lately, we have been witnessing that You no longer desire three-hundred vodka fl avors and choices on the shelf and, instead, would like to see more bourbons and whiskeys. And You are making this clear through your purchases, as whiskey and bourbon sales reveal, and vodka begins to falter. Whether glacially slow — or viral and fast, we often tend not to "own" the change around us to the degree we should. It is as if we had no part in it, or were mere bystanders. Nothing can be sustained unless, You, the almighty consumer, want it and then buy it. In the control states, and with respect to beverage alcohol, there is an implied responsibility by the state to protect You, the consumer, from it. These states made the decision to maintain involvement in overseeing beverage alcohol and the components that allow for it to move from producers to consumers. Where things get really complicated is just how each control state interprets this over time, and the manner in which it is accomplished. Ninety years ago, this was attempted by making it illegal and enforcing prohibition at the federal level. Fifty years ago, many of our control states had stores with limited hours, no signs, dark windows and zero retail product visibility. A customer was greeted by a clerk who would retrieve the bottle from a back room in a paper bag concealing the product entirely. All of this, under the fl ag of public health and safety, to protect You, the consumer. However, You, the constituent, decided over time that this is not the way beverage alcohol should be sold and changes were made. Whether this was accomplished by NABCA Industry Steering Committee Roundtable