21 – The new legal Drinking Age? (Part 2)

Liquor Laws –  Will Cabinet consent to the DTI's proposal of 21 as the legal drinking age? One cannot but lean towards Leon Louw of the Free Market Foundation's comment – “Being drunk with power is more dangerous than drunk driving”.   Government seems set on  "conveniently" ignoring the glaring contradiction – lowering the age of majority  to 18 yrs, but then increasing the legal drinking age to 21yrs.  Approval will almost guarantee an increase in illegal liquor trading, which will no doubt have the greatest negative impact on the poor.   

We support the view that culture and context,  rather than alcohol,  are the reasons for the violence for which alcohol consumption is being blamed.   We welcome your views on this important topic, the outcome of which is set to have a major influence, not only on consumers, but on all retail and wholesale liquor licence holders.

[Article by The Licence Co (LiquorWise Division)]

Liquor Auctions – Surprising All

Liquor – Every now and then one reads about a fantastic price paid at a liquor auction for a very old bottle of liquor.  The question which comes to mind is – Are these auctions for show, or for the “dough”?   We suggest it’s for a bit of both.  Barneby’s reported that the global turnover of wine auctions alone topped $346 million in 2015!   Sotheby’s recently sold a case of Richebourg 1978 for £211 500 – a record and three times the amount it was expected to fetch.

One of our clients recently mentioned she still has a bottle of 1939 KWV Tawny Port from varsity days.  On enquiry, we learnt that it is valued at       about R10 000.00.    The client is now considering selling it and booking a Mauritius island holiday!   

Do you have a bottle of any kind of liquor of which you would like the approximate value?  Click HERE to send us your bottle’s details – and we’ll oblige.  You may just find yourself pleasantly surprised!

Click HERE to receive part 2 of this interesting article.

[Written by The Licence Co (LiquorWise Division).  Source : Die Burger]

Drinking Age Finally Raised to 21? (Part 1)

Liquor Laws - The proposal to hike the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 was again in the spotlight this week.  The DTI handed the new (revised) edition of the National Liquor Policy to the cabinet for their consideration later this month.    

The majority of role players slammed the proposal, using phrases such as :

• “… see us going back to the past, back to the apartheid era of draconian controls and lack of respect for South African civilians” – Free Market Association
• “Where are we going with economic freedom in our lifetime” – Nafcoc
• “'only breed a whole new underworld of bootleggers” – Matric Rage
• “We are having more and more laws.  How are they going to make it effective and police it properly?” – Fedhasa

Support for the acceptance of the increased age, came from the following parties :

• “..the country has lost billions as a result of alcohol abuse” – SA Medical Research Council
•  “We think it’s a very good idea. It could save thousands of lives a year.” – SA Against Drunk Driving

Part 2 of this article - CLICK HERE to receive it

Let's have your comments on this topic!

[Article by The Licence Co (LiquorWise Division) – Sources : Independent Newspapers, Business Day]

2016 World Beer Cup - Why should you care?

Beer – The bi-annual 2016 World Beer Cup was hosted by the Brewers Association (BA) in Philadelphia (USA) on 6 May.   More than 6000 beers were entered by 1907 breweries from 55 countries and judged by an international panel of 253 judges.   The organisors have branded the competition as the “Olympics of Beer”.   

Some of the categories may have sounded strange to a newcomer to “craft beer”.  However, to a growing number of beer lovers around the world get excited when hearing about categories such as pumpkin, chocolate, chilli, coffee and smoke.   288 beers received a gold, silver or bronze award.   No South African beer was entered.  For more information, have a look at the Fact Sheet of the competition.

The founder of the BA, Charlie Papazian, commented that “Brewing has no boundaries or borders”.   This may be true, but the value of such competitions to the beer lover around the world is in doubt, by organisations such as the European Beer Consumers Union.  Why? Click here - To read about an alternative view on beer competitions in your follow-up article on this controversial topic. 

(Article by The Licence Co - sourced from http://www.worldbeercup.org/)

Coke & SABMiller create opportunity for small liquor licensed outlets

Liquor Licensed Traders – The merger of the soft drink businesses of Coca-Cola and SABMiller may bring some good news for current and prospective small traders.   In an effort to gain official approval for the merger, the companies have endeavoured to develop entrepeneurs by creating a R400m fund.   As many as 20 000 black-owned retail businesses are expected to be created.  This will focus on developing distribution opportunities and increasing skill levels, which would assist enterprise development.  An interesting development has been Coke’s undertaking to allow outlets smaller than 20sqm to provide 10% of space in Coke fridges to competitor products.

This development creates an opportunity for liquor licensed retail outlets to expand their existing businesses to grow more substantial businesses and enjoy the economy of scale benefits.

[Article by Bizcommunity, edited by The Licence Co (LiquorWiseDivision)]