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Guys, I could really use every persons help here with any and all suggestions, please pull out all of the stops in responses to this information:
I am working for an energetic but small micro-brewery in South Africa in a well known touristy city. SAB sees us as a threat to their local business in the city. Typically, when we are able to get our brand in a retailer on draft the SAB sales rep comes in and does one or multiples of the following: Hands out under the table monies to the appropriate people, bribes with beer, caps, t-shirts or something similar the bar staff, pays the bar staff off to state to customers in the bar that our beer taps are not working or they are out of stock on our beer, or simply put SAB sales reps demand that our beer be removed from the premise or SAB will pull their beer plus all of the liquor from behind the bar that they also import and supply to the establishment! On one occasion we know from the bar staff of one location SAB's sales rep actually paid one of the bartenders to destroy our equipment behind the bar and then claim we installed faulty equipment so we would be forced to remove it. The beer laws of South Africa are not the same as to what the North America and most of the E.U. laws are. I am familiar with the majority of these laws as I have worked in these areas of the world. Imagine brewing in a place where you are able to brew, self-distribute, and own your own bottle stores and bars! England has similar concepts but with lots of different governing laws. Here the law simply governs by the level of position you have on the total market. There is no major influence by any other brewer in South Africa- Windehoek of Namibia has a presence but has paid heavily for that position and its still a small one by the national standards. Amstel like wise has paid heavily only to make small inroads into the market, Heineken is in process of building a brewery in Johannesburg but that wont come online until next year or the year after, Budweiser is the sole beer sponsor of the 2010 Fifa Cup but will not have a solid presence here until closer to that year of their cup sponsorship. My company has been in operation for 8 years now and are wanting to finally take a stand and fight SAB instead of running when they come demanding from retailers. The owner of the microbrewery and I constantly struggle to come up with new ideas as how to combat SAB's aggression and grow a loyal consumer customer base within the city. Other microbreweries in the country experience similar problems and none of us are unified to any degree.
What I am looking for is how to create loyalty from the retailers to keep them from being commercially bribed or out right paid off by SAB. Any and all ideas will be of great help!
I am working for an energetic but small micro-brewery in South Africa in a well known touristy city. SAB sees us as a threat to their local business in the city. Typically, when we are able to get our brand in a retailer on draft the SAB sales rep comes in and does one or multiples of the following: Hands out under the table monies to the appropriate people, bribes with beer, caps, t-shirts or something similar the bar staff, pays the bar staff off to state to customers in the bar that our beer taps are not working or they are out of stock on our beer, or simply put SAB sales reps demand that our beer be removed from the premise or SAB will pull their beer plus all of the liquor from behind the bar that they also import and supply to the establishment! On one occasion we know from the bar staff of one location SAB's sales rep actually paid one of the bartenders to destroy our equipment behind the bar and then claim we installed faulty equipment so we would be forced to remove it. The beer laws of South Africa are not the same as to what the North America and most of the E.U. laws are. I am familiar with the majority of these laws as I have worked in these areas of the world. Imagine brewing in a place where you are able to brew, self-distribute, and own your own bottle stores and bars! England has similar concepts but with lots of different governing laws. Here the law simply governs by the level of position you have on the total market. There is no major influence by any other brewer in South Africa- Windehoek of Namibia has a presence but has paid heavily for that position and its still a small one by the national standards. Amstel like wise has paid heavily only to make small inroads into the market, Heineken is in process of building a brewery in Johannesburg but that wont come online until next year or the year after, Budweiser is the sole beer sponsor of the 2010 Fifa Cup but will not have a solid presence here until closer to that year of their cup sponsorship. My company has been in operation for 8 years now and are wanting to finally take a stand and fight SAB instead of running when they come demanding from retailers. The owner of the microbrewery and I constantly struggle to come up with new ideas as how to combat SAB's aggression and grow a loyal consumer customer base within the city. Other microbreweries in the country experience similar problems and none of us are unified to any degree.
What I am looking for is how to create loyalty from the retailers to keep them from being commercially bribed or out right paid off by SAB. Any and all ideas will be of great help!
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