Distributor on trending bevs and categories

Nick Wendowski and his wife own Stone's Beer & Beverage in Philly. PA liquor laws are weird (more on that below), and Nick's license allows him to serve 3 rungs in the booze ladder:

Beer store
Distributor
Exclusive beer brand rep

Given this, it was interesting to talk with him about the trends he's noticed over the last 6 months or so. (We also touched on some crazy PA liquor limitations). Here are takeaways from the conversation:

Craft drinkers are swinging back to more traditional beer styles. Customers want crisp lagers more than a double dry hopped IPA with fungus added. JK about the fungus, but you know what we mean.
But these craft drinkers aren't getting High Life or PBR—they want craft versions of the traditional styles.
Nick is also seeing a lot pull from malt-based versions of popular liquors. I.e. Fireball, 99 Bananas.
And then there are other malt-based things, like BuzzBallz. Laughable name, obviously, but they're selling.
RTD cocktails are obviously huge. Not breaking any news there.
The interesting thing is how they're sold and managed in PA. Because they're not malt-based, only liquor stores—which are all state-owned—can sell them.
But these state-owned stores aren't selling as much as they could be. It makes sense—they don't have a delivery infrastructure, they're not as efficient as if a business were running things, etc.
As a result, the state is missing out on a ton of RTD cocktail revenue. Nick said RTD cocktail revenue is 90% lower in PA than in neighboring states. Which is wild.

Check out the interview clip for more color on these trends and also a little more about PA liquor laws:

👉 And if you'd like to hear more from Nick check out this playlist on the Brave New Bar Youtube channel.

Sign up for the Brave New Bar weekly newsletter