Nutritional labels coming to alcoholic beverages: spirits companies will likely adopt first while wine companies will wait
June 3, 2013 Alcoholic beverages soon could have nutritional labels like those on food packaging, but only if the producers want to put them there. The Treasury Department, which regulates alcohol, said this past week that beer, wine and spirits companies can use...
Texas liquor distillers will be able to sell their wares on site after the governor signed Senate Bill 905 into law
May 31, 2013 Liquor distillers in Texas will be able to sell their wares on site thanks to a bill signed into law by the governor. Senate Bill 905 — authored by State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio — enables a distiller's and rectifier's permit holder to...
Move over tequila, here comes Chinese firewater Baijiu led by new entrants such as ByeJoe
Chinese baijiu, a flammable, pungent white liquor averaging a 110-proof wallop, is the world's most consumed form of liquor thanks to its popularity in China, but for the first time distillers are looking to develop export markets. According to data from International...
TTB issues guidelines for voluntary serving facts statements: allows suppliers to provide consumers with nutritional information including calories per serving
May 29, 2013 Washington, DC — On May 28, 2013, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) issued a ruling (Ruling 2013-2) that allows alcohol beverage industry members to provide consumers with nutritional information about their products and provides...
A year after liquor privatization in Washington: state revenues increasing as customers are paying more
May 28, 2013 A year ago, you couldn’t buy liquor at grocery stores in Washington. Now you can, but you probably pay more for it. June 1 will mark the one-year anniversary of the state’s departure from the liquor business, when it turned sales over to private retailers...
‘Operation Swill’ details emerge, caramel-color rubbing alcohol sold as scotch
May 24, 2013 At one bar, a mixture that included rubbing alcohol and caramel coloring was sold as scotch. In another, premium liquor bottles were refilled with water – and apparently not even clean water at that. State officials provided those new details Thursday on...
New Jersey’s “Operation Swill” cracks down on alleged liquor substitution in on-premise accounts: well liquor in premium brand bottles?
New Jersey's Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control announced Wednesday that it had seized alcohol from 29 bars and restaurants as part of a year-long investigation into allegations that the businesses have been fooling customers by filling bottles from premium brands...
Winemakers must do more to tackle counterfeit wines – QR codes might be solution
May 22, 2013 Winemakers should act now to prevent fraudsters creating counterfeits of their products, according to Geert de Vries of KPMG. Speaking today at the London International Wine Fair 2013 at ExCeL, London, de Vries, who works for KPMG's risk services unit,...
Frugality of US consumers is receding – Restaurant sales at all time high
May 21, 2013 Americans seem to be fed up with frugality. As the recession ever so slowly recedes, an increasing number of Americans say they are less frugal than they were a few years ago. At the same time, sales at restaurants are at an all-time high and at least one...