Boston Beer Company has filed a complaint against Downeast Cider and a former employee who now serves as the Boston-based cider maker’s SVP of marketing.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Massachusetts Superior Court, according to Boston news blog Universal Hub. 

Boston Beer, which makes Angry Orchard Hard Cider, alleged that former business analysis executive Brian Soudant and Downeast have misappropriated trade secrets and received unjust enrichment, among other counts. 

Boston Beer also accused Soudant of breaching non-compete and non-disclosure clauses in an employee agreement he signed when he joined the company in 2015 as senior manager for the company’s business analysis department. He worked there for eight years and departed for Downeast in April 2023.

Under the agreement’s non-compete clause, Soudant was barred from “engaging in the ‘importing, production, marketing or distribution to distributors of any malt beverage, hard cider’” within 25% of the wholesale price of any of Boston Beer’s products for one year after his last compensation from the company. 

Non-compete clauses have come under scrutiny in recent years. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed a rule banning the practice in January, arguing that non-competes suppress wages and stifle entrepreneurship. 

This isn’t the first time Boston Beer has taken legal action against a former employee for allegedly violating a non-compete clause. In 2011, the company filed a lawsuit against former sales rep Judd Hausner and Anchor Brewing, which hired him to manage distributor relationships in Northern California. 

In the latest case, Boston Beer explained its need to enforce the non-compete clause against Soudant with the same language 12 years later: “Faced with fierce competition from much larger alcoholic beverage companies as well as other craft brewers, Boston Beer has to be particularly vigilant about protecting itself against unfair competition from former employees who know its strategic plans and are in a position to compete unfairly with it.”

Brewbound Insiders can read more here.

New Crystal Red is a drum roasted crystallized malt that contributes gold and red hues at low usage rates, with minimal flavor impact. It can be used at moderate levels for caramelized notes and darker red/brown hues. Crystal Red works well in a variety of beer styles from lagers to dark ales. Ask for a sample today! Learn more

Just when CBD products seem to be inching towards some sort of regulation that can finally open up the market, one of the category's biggest backers thus far is pulling out. 

Southern Glazer's had been eagerly recruiting partners for its growing portfolio of hemp-infused beverages. Back in 2021, as it picked up contracts with brands like Mad Tasty, Kill Cliff and DEFY, and later with major Canadian producers Tilray and Canopy Growth, the distributor's eagerness to step into the uncertain market seemed to represent a vote of confidence for wary retailers, investors and mainstream consumers that still may be skeptical of the category's long term potential.

But in a press release last week, Canadian brand CENTR, distributed in California by Southern Glazer's since 2021, announced that the distributor had unceremoniously pulled out of the CBD category in the U.S. altogether. 

With no official confirmation coming from Southern Glazer's, there’s only speculation as to the distributor's motivations for turning away from CBD, if indeed that's what they've done. 

For a company stocked with sales reps making a living moving alcohol, spending time developing a new category with uneven traction across retail customers may not have been a great fit. Partnering with brands like B GREAT and Charlotte's Web introduced non-beverage formats like gummies and tinctures into the mix as well. Internal changes in management roles may have also come into play. 

Meanwhile, here's what we've been hearing: Speaking to our sibling publication BevNET earlier this week, John Timar, former CEO of Kill Cliff, an early pioneer in mass-market CBD drinks that teamed with Southern Glazer's for distribution in 2021, noted that the brand had "mutually exited" its agreement as part of a strategy pivot from retail back towards e-commerce. 

Timar is no longer involved in the day-to-day business, but he noted that Southern Glazer's supposed exit comes at a time in which optimism is running high for a legislative solution to the persistent question around CBD. 

A bipartisan group in Congress is conducting requests for information (RFIs) for hemp-derived CBD products, signaling a potential legislative path around inaction by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). ONE HEMP, a coalition of CBD brands (including Charlotte's Web) "dedicated to addressing the FDA’s concerns with a data and science-backed approach," said it made "meaningful progress" during a recent presentation of findings to Congress. 

In other words: change may be coming, but not soon enough. 

San Antonio, Texas-based Alamo Beer Co. has acquired Austin-based ShotGun Spiked Seltzer, the San Antonio Business Journal reported. 

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but Alamo Beer founder Eugene Simor described the deal to the Business Journal as a “lifeline” for the hard seltzer brand. 

ShotGun previously agreed to merge with Texas-based craft brewery AquaBrew, in a deal announced in early 2022. 

AquaBrew shut down its taproom in January, citing renovations in an Instagram post, but never reopened. A reddit post later unveiled a sign allegedly posted on the property door this summer, suggesting locks were changed due to “failure to pay rent.” 

Alamo will continue to market ShotGun’s offerings – including its sugar-based hard seltzers and ShotGun Pilsner – under the ShotGun name, and will produce the products at Alamo’s East San Antonio brewery, according to the report. 

The news comes a month after Alamo announced it acquired VIVA Beer, a fellow San Antonio-based craft brewery, in a deal characterized more as a merger.

Anheuser-Busch InBev announced Wednesday additional assistance for its wholesaler partners to ensure they “have the support they need to move forward, connect with consumers, and drive growth in our markets across the country.”

The second round of assistance includes:

• Financial support for equity wholesalers in the form of sales incentive payments for beer sold through Q1 2024, pending legal and regulatory requirements;
• Freight/fuel surcharge reimbursements through Q1 2024;
• Market share recovery incentives starting in Q2 2024 through the end of the year.

The latest round of assistance follows assistance offered in mid-June amid the conservative-led boycott of Bud Light.

Bernstein analyst Nadine Sarwat noted this week that there are “early signs of Bud Light clawing back lost share; but it’s still marginal.” During the week ending October 7, Bud Light volumes declined -29% year-over-year, putting its market share at 9.1%. 

Sarwat wrote: “This is still down ~290 bps [basis points] vs. pre-controversy. However, it is an ~30 bps improvement vs. the all-time low share seen in July. 

“More meaningful improvement can be seen elsewhere in the ABI portfolio. Busch Light has regained ~40 bps share of the ~60 bps of share lost from the controversy. Michelob Ultra has regained ~30 bps share of the ~50 bps of share lost. Net, ABI has regained ~120 bps of the ~620 bps share it had lost from the controversy, albeit sequentially stable vs last week at 37.6%.”

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In other A-B news, the world’s largest beer manufacturer is facing calls from the Teamsters to end its two-tier health care plan, which the union said forces new hires to pay more for coverage than senior workers in similar roles. 

Jeff Padellaro, director of the Teamsters Brewery, Bakery, and Soft Drink Conference, said in a release: “If Anheuser-Busch really wants to reward the workers it touts so proudly in its commercials, the company has a very easy way of doing that – — treat them equally and with respect. We will not let any employer force workers doing the same labor to accept less than their peers. Anheuser-Busch must agree to this straightforward proposal for equal health care immediately.” 

The Teamsters said more than 40% of A-B workers were hired into the more expensive plan.

Negotiations between the Teamsters and A-B started in mid-September and resumed this week. The existing deal is slated to expire on February 29, 2024.

The Brewbound team reconvenes and debriefs following the National Beer Wholesalers Association’s Annual Convention. Zoe and Justin give a field report on the convention, including the issues at the forefront of wholesalers’ minds, the products sampled on the floor and the vibe at the Alliance for Women in Beer and BREW Making Moves event.

The team also plays Another Round or Tabbing Out on Welch’s entering the bev-alc chat, kegged espresso martinis and beverages for raging and raving. 

Listen here or on all popular podcast formats. 

Total bev-alc dollar sales increased +2% year-over-year (YoY) in the latest week (ending October 8) and were flat versus the previous week, according to Circana’s Scott Scanlon in the market research firm’s weekly off-premise sales report. 

Similarly, beer dollar sales increased +2% YoY, while wine was down -1% and spirits were up +6%. Ready-to-drink canned cocktails (RTDs) recorded a +9% YoY increase in dollar sales. 

Scanlon added: “There has been a lot of discussion regarding Sober October impact on sales this year, we have cleared a quarter thus far without severe impact.”

Imports, non-alcoholic (NA) beer and flavored malt beverages (FMBs) have consistently been the main beer segments to record positive trends this year. However, in the last 12 weeks, hard cider (dollar sales +0.9%) and domestic sub-premium (dollar sales +2.4%) have eked out positive YoY dollar gains. 

In the last 52 weeks, every beer segment recorded positive YoY dollar sales gains, except for craft (-1%), beer-centric hard seltzer (-14%) and “assorted” (-20.2%). 

Volume is a different story, with FMBs (+12.5%), imports (+5.9%) and NA (+16.6%) recording the only volume gains YoY in the 52-week period.

Adam Bankovich, the new CEO of Cincinnati’s Rhinegeist Brewery, will give the keynote address at the 2023 Brewbound Live business conference December 6 + 7 in Marina del Rey, California.

Amid a sea change of leadership at top craft breweries across the country, Bankovich represents the next wave of craft leadership at a brewery that just celebrated its 10th anniversary.

Following the keynote address, Bankovich will be joined on stage by Rhinegeist co-founder Bryant Goulding for a discussion of passing the torch to the next generation of leaders, getting out of your own way, why it’s OK to say no and much more.

Brewbound Live takes place December 6 and 7 in Marina del Rey, California, at the Marina Del Rey Marriott Hotel (4100 Admiralty Way, Marina Del Rey, CA).

The Brewbound Live business conference returns December 6-7 in Marina del Rey. 

Early registration pricing expires this Saturday, October 21, for Brewbound Live 2023.

Hear from:

• Brewers Association chief economist Bart Watson,
• NBWA chief economist Lester Jones,
• NIQ beverage alcohol vertical director of thought leadership Kaleigh Theriault,
• 3 Tier Beverages analytics and client success consultant Stephanie Roatis,
• Extra Mile Convenience Stores category manager Michelle Abdollah,
• Crowns & Hops founders Beny Ashburn and Teo Hunter,
• Tilray president of U.S. beer division Ty Gilmore,
• National Black Brewers Association executive director Kevin Asato,
• Bell’s Brewery EVP Carrie Yunker,
• BuzzBallz founder Merrilee Kick,
• BeatBox co-founder Aimy Steadman,
• Rogue Ales president Steven Garrett,
• And Stateside Vodka CEO Clement Pappas.

Additional speakers will be announced in the coming days.

Register now and save $100 per registration (Insiders save $200!).