A California bill that would allow licensed beer manufacturers to give up to five cases of retail advertising glassware to retail partners annually has cleared the state Senate committee consideration, according to Brewers Association.
If it passes into law, the bill would allow the retailer to accept, without direct or indirect charge, up to 10 cases of promotional glassware products per location.
This is similar to the case that took place in Florida last year, as Florida was one of the states where establishments pay wholesale cost for branded glassware. Anheuser-Busch wanted to make it legal for companies to provide the glassware for free, which would reportedly create problems for smaller breweries.
Anheuser-Busch was ultimately successful. And while supporters of the legislation said it created an “even playing field,” smaller companies said they couldn’t keep up or afford to compete with the bigger companies. Josh Aubuchon, a representative from the Florida Brewers Guild, said that it would cost a brewer with 350 retail customers about $210,000 every year to provide the maximum amount of free glasses allowed under the bill.
For California, the consequences are likely going to be the same. Since big companies can provide a decent amount of branded glassware at no cost to the retail partner, the financial strain falls on smaller breweries, which have become more popular and numerous over the last few decades.
