Boston Beer Co. is testing a program called Freshest Beer in Town to reduce the amount of time beer sits in warehouses. The program aims to deliver fresher beer to consumers while taking costs out of the distribution system, company officials said in an earnings call Nov. 4.
Wholesalers typically carry about four to five weeks of packaged inventory and three to four weeks of draft inventory. In tests with two distributors, Boston Beer Co. reduced inventories by about two weeks, allowing the company to respond more quickly to changes in demand.
The company still is evaluating the change for "unexpected effects" but hopes to roll it out for 50 percent of the Sam Adams volume by the end of 2011. BBC executives said it is not clear whether the program will lead to any actual savings for the company, but it should lower expenses for distributors.
"We saw it as an opportunity to improve the quality of the Sam Adams that a drinker gets," CEO C. James Koch said during the call. "By taking weeks out of the wholesale inventory, we could give them a better glass of beer. Certainly the foundation we believe for our success has been the quality of our beer and this was an opportunity to strengthen that foundation."
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