Registration has begun for Beer Industry of Florida's 2010 Legislative Meeting. The event will be held Wednesday, April 7th and Thursday, April 8th at the Governor's Club in Tallahassee, Florida.
Once again, the 2010 Legislative Meeting will feature an exclusive Beer and Food Pairing Wednesday evening, featuring fine craft, specialty, and domestic beer samplings. Legislators and policymakers along with distributors, brewers, and industry parners are invited to this event. Interested suppliers should contact Heidie Nesset to have their products included in the pairing (heidie@floridabeer.org).
Prior to the start of the Beer and Food Pairing on Wednesday, attendees are welcome to attend a 2010 Legislative Briefing where issues affecting the beverage alcohol industry will be discussed. Thursday morning will begin with a breakfast featuring legislative leaders and the Director from the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, John Powell. Breakfast will be followed with an opportunity to head over to the capitol to meet with legislators.
Registration forms and hotel information are available under the "Events" tab. Attendees may register and pay online using their credit cards. You can also print the form and fax or mail it to BIF headquarters in Tallahassee. For our out of town guests, we have reserved two blocks of rooms: one at the Governor's Inn, directly across the street from the Governor's Club and one at the Aloft Hotel, a short walk from Governor's Club. Due to limited hotel space in Tallahassee during the legislative session, we expect rooms to go quickly, so please make your reservations early. Please contact us with any questions regarding the 2010 meeting. We look forward to seeing you in the spring!
Legislators and their staff may purchase individual tickets in advance by sending an e-mail to Heidie Nesset at heidie@floridabeer.org.
Beer Marketer’s Insights reports that top U.S. beer suppliers volume was down in 2009. If estimates hold, none of the top 6 gained share. Smaller brewers such as Boston Beer and Yuengling posted gains. Yuengling enjoyed the most success of the top 10 brewers, gaining nearly 12% in volume over 2008. Total U.S. beer shipments were down 2.2%. Anheuser Busch was down 2.1% and MillerCoors was down approximately 2%, according to the trade publications estimates.
Cheers,
R. Eric Criss
President, Beer Industry of Florida, Inc.
The Florida News Service reports two key political campaigns in Florida are heating up. A public poll shows Governor Charlie Crist and House Speaker Marco Rubio are tied in their race for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination next year. The poll, a Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of 431 likely Republican primary voters, found Crist and Rubio tied at 43 percent. This is a ten point drop from the 53 percent support Crist received in August. In the gubernatorial race, the same Rasmussen poll found Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum leading Democratic Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink 44 percent to 39 percent. This is a five point lead and within the margin of error – a big change from the 11 point lead the poll showed McCollum having in October. These campaigns may offer some of the most competitive races for statewide office in Florida in recent memory.
Cheers,
R. Eric Criss
President, Beer Industry of Florida, Inc.