--- Panel ---
Harry is joined by John Lane of Ohio casual dining/bar chain Winking Lizard along with editors Jenn Litz and Jordan Driggers.
---Time-Stamped Contents ---
00:00 Intro - hilarious banter, send harry beer hats.
01:00 john lane of winking lizard tavern.
01:50 tough 18 months, but "we're coming out of it just fine", kinda -- 95-98% back to 2019 levels.
02:15 but traffic is different, extended lunch, late night down.
04:00 on-premise traffic going to be "fundamentally different going forward" unless something big happens.
04:30 closed downtown cleveland store because metro/office isn't coming back in near future.
05:15 challenges in getting labor. "we'd be kicking butt" if they were fully staffed. down ~175 employees from 2019 (!) still open 7 days a week tho.
06:15 jenn: are suppliers keeping you in stock? all over the board, even liquor cos having bottle shortages.
08:20 pricing outlook for 2022: wl is value chain, try to hold the line.
09:20 supplier beer price increase timing is terrible (jan/sept). wl going up dec 1 in anticipation. dec and july are better for gpi.
10:15 regional craft strong, great lakes turnaround, cans and ipa.
11:10 john still a "core guy" on brands, and it's worked out well. sierra, nbb, reingest, still pouring strong. big domestic premiums down a little (lack of sports).
12:00 increase in seltzers as sports returns.
12:30 diageo's lone river ranch water launching, doing well.
12:50 maintaining 28-33 tap model, one or two taps left open, little less rotation, focus on core.
14:00 draft or package seltzer? seltzers rise as sports returned.
15:40 bev mix: beer slower to bounce back after pan, but getting there. wine and spirits holding their own and growing -- more dinner biz, less party biz.
16:30 harry goes on tangent about history of malt coolers.
17:30 prospects on-premise heading into winter. challenges include vax mandates / labor shortage / cost inflation.
19:30 will we see more on-premise closings after holidays?
21:00 is bario concept easier to operate with labor shortage?
22:00 leaning more into liquor?
23:40 jenn remembers meeting john (via sam calagione).
---About---
Beer Business Daily publisher Harry Schuhmacher joins his editors and other guests 2 times a week as they grok the industry issues of the day.
-Podcast Hotline: Text or call Harry in confidence at: (262) 345-2501
-Audio/Video feeds at BeerNetRadio.com
-Articles referenced at beernet.com
-Twitter / IG / TikTok: @beerbizdaily
