Stop Megabrewers from Squeezing Craft Brewers out of the Market!
Anheuser-Busch InBev recently introduced a new incentive program that could offer some independent distributors in the U.S. annual reimbursements of as much as $1.5 million if 98% of the beers they sell are AB InBev brands, according to two distributors who requested confidentiality because they were asked not to discuss the plan. Distributors whose sales volumes are 95% made up of AB InBev brands would be eligible to have the brewer cover as much as half of their contractual marketing support for those brands, which includes retail promotion and display costs.
This is nothing more than an incentive for distributors to give Anheuser-Busch InBev a near-monopoly over the beer market and squeeze out craft brewers. Even if this is legal, it is unfair and unethical. Beer lovers of the United States need to call for laws that forbid this practice, and allow small-batch brewers to maintain their market presence.
We the undersigned are upset about Anheuser-Busch InBev's plan to, in essence, monopolize beer distributors and squeeze craft beers out of supermarkets and liquor stores. We ask for laws that forbid mega-brewers from giving distributors incentives to carry their brands almost exclusively, with only a tiny allowance for small breweries. The craft beer market is growing, and mega-brewers have no business trying to squelch it with dirty tricks.
