In this collection of seminars, legal and legislative experts provide industry insights and regulatory updates on issues affecting craft brewers. Explore topics including the impact of federal and state legislation, non-beer beverage advertising compliance, innovative brewery startup strategies and legal considerations, and the potential future of beer shipping laws.
Comparative Trade Practices and Compliance Considerations for Non-Beer Beverages
This seminar focuses on advertising, marketing, activation, and product placement considerations for non-beer beverages. The speaker discusses recent regulatory guidance regarding cross-over products, slotting fees, and other hot topics in the regulatory landscape for industry members in the beyond beer space.
Related Resources
- Beyond Beer: Licensing, Regulatory & Compliance Considerations when Creating Non-Beer Products: This CBC 2023 seminar recording focuses on the regulatory and compliance requirements to get your new beyond beer creations into the hands of consumers.
Legal and Government Affairs Developments: Risks and Opportunities
A key part of running a successful business is staying informed about legislative and regulatory developments. In this seminar, join Brewers Association (BA) General Counsel, Marc Sorini, and Senior Director of Federal Affairs, Katie Marisic, for a legal and legislative update. Learn about the issues relevant to small and independent craft brewers and get a broad overview about what the future could hold for your business. Topics touch on important national as well as state-specific developments, including legislation, regulations, and court decisions.
Related Resources
- Government Affairs Resource Hub: The BA strives to keep breweries informed about the government agencies, policies, and current issues affecting the craft beer industry. Refer to the resources in this archive for information about how you can get involved and stay abreast of the ways local, state, and federal governments can impact your brewery.
- Government Affairs Updates: Stay up-to-date with all BA government affairs-related activities.
- Legal Insights: Learn about opportunities and movements relevant to the beverage alcohol industry from the craft brewing industry’s top legal counsel, Marc Sorini.
- Connect with Elected Officials: This legislative resource lets you see the state and federal legislation the BA is monitoring, what issues we support and oppose, and how you can take action.
No Brewery, No Beer, No Problem
With commercial real estate and traditional bank lending out of reach to all but the most established brewing companies, and in the face of a hyper-competitive existing brewery marketplace, how does the craft brewery startup survive and thrive without its own brewery or a proven beer product?
This seminar examines proven strategies for thriving in this challenging marketplace through a legal review of various non-traditional rubrics for marketplace success, including brewing arrangements such as contract brewing or an alternating proprietorship (alt-prop) relationship, production of non-beer products such ready-to-drink cocktails (RTDs), ciders, and other wine products, and other strategies for harnessing sustainable margins while building a successful brand.
Related Resources
- Contract Brewing: Production Best Practices: This playlist of resources highlights some of the technical brewing aspects to consider when navigating a contract brewing relationship.
- Contract Brewing: Legal, Accounting, and Excise Tax Aspects: The world of contract brewing presents many legal, accounting, and marketing implications. This CBC 2022 seminar recording provides perspectives from brewers who have a robust contract brewing practice, and an attorney and CPA with expertise in the brewing industry.
- Alternating Proprietorships for Breweries: BA General Counsel Marc Sorini explains the difference between an alternating proprietorship and a contract brewing relationship as defined by TTB.
Why Wine Can Be Shipped Direct-to-Consumer… And Beer Can’t (Yet)
One of the hottest trends in the beverage alcohol industry is direct-to-consumer (DtC) shipping. But state laws largely restrict DtC shipping only to winemakers, leaving most brewers out in the cold and unable to meet the increasing interest among consumers for DtC shipping options. But why not beer?
In this panel presentation, Sam DeWitt, Brewers Association (BA) state government affairs manager, Steve Gross, Wine Institute vice president of state relations, and Alex Koral, Sovos ShipCompliant regulatory general counsel, will break down the current consumer interest for DtC shipping of beer, discuss the historic and ongoing work that the wine industry has taken to build a nearly national availability for DtC shipping, and how brewers can work together to realize the opportunities that legal DtC beer shipping can bring.
Related Resources
- 2024 BA/Sovos DtC Beer Shipping Report: This report offers an in-depth analysis of a consumer poll and an economist’s review of the direct-to-consumer (DtC) beer shipping market.
- Legal Q&A on Shipping Beer Direct-to-Consumer and A Legal Primer on Direct-to-Consumer Beer Sales: In these Legal Insights posts, BA General Counsel Marc Sorini provides answers to frequently asked questions about DtC shipping and looks at how the law shapes the various models and approaches to DtC sales.
- Interstate Direct-to-Consumer Shipping Laws: This map shows the states where DtC is permitted, limited, and not permitted.
- State Laws Database: The BA has compiled a database of U.S. laws impacting craft brewers. Filter by law to find out more about the states that currently allow DtC.
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The Brewers Association offers online courses to members via our online training center.
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