News

Both the Agriculture Department’s Market Access Program for exports and the overall budget for the Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau (TTB) are included as proposed cuts for the budget. In particular, these cuts will affect the timeline for processing label and formula applications. If the current proposal for the budget is approved the timeline for processing applications moves from 10 days to 30 days. The proposed changes to the budget will also affect the timeline for basic beverage alcohol industry permitting.

There is a great deal of confusion and misunderstanding around the sourcing for small craft brands. Some argue that it is misleading for small brands to imply they are   small batch, locally produced when in fact they are obtaining their base spirit from a large third party distiller. Others argue that third party distillers are a driving force in the craft spirits business being able to expand and new companies being able to enter the market. They can focus their resources on marketing their product rather than the complicated and expensive process of building their own distillery.

Diageo has pinpointed packaging as a focus of its innovation agenda, with a particular emphasis on plastic packaging. It has set the goal of making all packaging recyclable by 2020. Diageo will focus its efforts on sourcing, design, and reuse.

The owners of Château Montrose in Bordeaux have purchased the highly valuable Loire Valley domaine Clos Rougeard. The estate was one of the first noted for its use of biodynamic farming methods.