Survey Results

More and more wholesalers are formalizing their business planning processes. Business planning helps all of the executives and functional department heads agree to the company’s overall goals and the goals of each department.

This issue of Verno’s Beer Brief recaps the results of the 2015 Beer Business Survey in which over 430 beer wholesaler executives participated. 

The survey covers everything from which part of their businesses wholesales plan on investing in to service policies, sales and profit outlooks, tel-sell, compensation changes for 2015, employee benefits changes, and more. 

Wholesalers are encouraged to use this survey to challenge their management team to think about the future, how much change is needed, how other wholesalers are currently operating, and what wholesalers plan on changing in 2015.

In October of 2013, over 260 wholesaler executives were asked to give their opinion on where they saw their businesses and the industry moving in 2014. This issue of Verno’s Beer Brief presents the survey results.

Topics that were addressed include: sales and profit expectations, supplier cost transference, employee compensation and benefits increases, areas targeted for cost improvement, SKU management, portfolio expansion – soda, wine, liquor – retail service strategies, sales structure changes, delivery methods, HR trends, and succession planning.

Results are compared by size of the wholesaler, major supplier, and this year versus last year. We also included general KOIs that can be used to measure the overall health of the company.

In December of 2012, we asked over 150 wholesaler executives to give their opinion on where they saw their business and the industry moving in 2013.

Topics that are addressed include: expected sales, profits, and margins, portfolio size including crafts beer, wine and liquor, service policy, tel-sell, and employee related issues such as pay raises and health insurance.

We also included general KOIs that can be used to measure the overall health of the company.

In 2013, Verno Consulting partnered with a group of MBA students from the University of Denver to survey over 180 beer wholesaler executives on their current state of readiness for an acquisition.

This study addresses the major challenges wholesalers face during the process of implementing an acquired company, including management bench strength, operational capacity, IT utilization, process standardization, cultural challenges and personnel decisions.  

The Acquisition Readiness Beer Brief shows the results of the survey. We also recommend checking reading the Acquisition Integration Best Practices Beer Brief for a collection of best practice recommendations gained from the complete study.

In the Spring of 2012, Verno Consulting partnered with a group of MBA students from the University of Denver to conduct the largest, most comprehensive study on the role social media plays for beer wholesalers. 

Included in this issue of Verno’s Beer Brief are the survey results from over 200 beer wholesalers, the results of 40 wholesaler interviews, as well as 50 consumer interviews in craft beer drinking environments. We outline social media best practices for branding and promoting your business, selecting the right lead person to manage your social media effort, identifying your target market, budgeting for social media, allocating employee time to posting, and tracking the results. KOIs are provided to measure social media results, and wholesaler success stories are provided.  

This issue of Verno’s Beer Brief is a result of a comprehensive study completed by the University of Denver’s MBA class in 2011 that specifically targeted sustainability practices within the beer wholesaler industry.

This Brief provides the definition of sustainably as well as the results of the survey conducted with beer wholesalers. The results include both trends in sustainability as well as best practices and wholesaler success stories. This study provides wholesalers with the framework to develop sustainability goals and scorecards.