EP-182 Kimberly Clements and Daniel Lust of Pints

Hey folks, before we get started today I wanted to let you know about some
upcoming events with GBH that you should attend.

First up, this Sunday in Chicago we’re hanging out on the New Belgium Sour
Saison blending tour. Come try their sour saison and have some fun blending
your own foeder beer. That’s Sunday from 5-8p at Larry’s in Uptown. A
killer patio at Larry’s. And I’ll have hard copies of our Into the Wild
journal to hand out, for free. Our first print piece. So come get a copy.

Then August 3rd and 4th we’ll be at Ommegang’s Belgium Comes to Cooperstown
festival. That Friday from 12-5p we’re hosting a series of panel
discussions on all things Belgian and Belgian-inspired. Those will be video
and audio recorded for the podcast, but if you can make it live, it should
be a great time.

Then on September 7th and 8th in London, it’s time for beaverton’s annual
Extravaganza — we’ll be hosting the talks again this year, and of course,
with everything that’s occurred in the last couple of months with Heineken
acquiring a minority stake in the business, there’s a lot to talk about.
And Bob Pease of the Brewers Association, who champions small and
independent breweries will be there for one of the talks. So if you’re on
the fence, this is starting to seem like a can’t-miss event.

Okay, back to the present:

Today we’re going to dig into a part of the beer business that’s hard to
crack - distribution. It’s typically very difficult to talk about this part
of the three-tier system because it’s full of confusing laws that vary
state-to-state, its federally mandated and regulated, and probably he most
important reason, is that no one is incentivized to really discuss it -
it’s where a lot of the concentration of wealth happens in the beer
industry, and when things get consolidated, there’s rarely progress,
innovation, or even basic transparency as to how it all works. It’s a bit
of a black box.

But looking at it from the craft brewer’s perspective, it’s a box that
needs opening. And in the last decade, a lot of the power dynamic has
shifted due to new laws that increase access to market for brewers - things
like self-distribution, dock sales, and own-premise taprooms have put
producers much more in role of distributors and retailers than ever before.
As a result, they’re having ideas. They’re getting ambitious about their
go-to-market strategies. And they’re starting to get creative.

Today’s guest is a catalyst for that kind of change. Kimberly Clements, a
former owner of Golden Eagle distributors in Arizona, and her business
partner Daniel Lust, who was a pricing analyst and territory manager at
Golden Eagle, are the founding duo behind Pints LLC, and consulting company
that helps brewers strategize new markets and distribution. They also work
on the distribution side of things, helping align the interests of craft
brewers and distributors across the country.

Their insight into this part of the business is amazing.

If you’ve ever wanted to learn how distributions really works, and what the
challenges really look like, this is the episode for you. And as a bonus,
we get a really stark look into exactly how distribution networks, even
so-called independent distributors, are controlled by AB-Inbev’s influence
form one generation to the next. It’s an amazingly candid conversation with
someone who knows the ins and outs, both historical and contemporary.

And before we begin, a quick shootout to On Tour brewing for hosting us for
this talk. As some of you know, we’re moving to a new studio space just
down the street from On Tour, but it’s not ready until next week, so they
were really gracious in hosting us so we had a temporary place to record
this episode. I certainly didn’t want to miss my chance to talk to these
folks. So thanks to On Tour for the hospitality. And fair warning, this is
a live brewery taproom environment, so it’s not the quiet studio recording
you’re used to. But it’s totally worth the listen. Thanks to Mark and the
On Tour crew for helping us out. Great neighbors.