Very interesting, Peter! On our end, we cannot easily distinguish who is responsible (Peller or WE or the distributor). Thanks for clearing that up.
Hmmm, WE is responsible for choosing its distributor..... Just sayin'!
You are 100% correct Paul, we can choose our distributor, and LD Carlson does a tremendous job of distributing our products in the U.S. and have done so for many, many years.
The real issue here is the changing landscape of the retail market in general, as more and more consumers (not just in our business) move to buying online.
The home brewing industry in North America was built on the backs of bricks and mortar "Mom & Pop" style specialty retailers, who got people brewing one at a time. Many of these became successful and are still around. The ones who didn't do a great job are mostly gone.
The advent of online shopping created an opportunity for home brewing products to be bought and sold at discount prices, since online stores have lower overheads. This is great for existing consumers as lower prices generally means higher consumption. It's not great for starting new consumers to our hobby as most have many questions and prefer the traditional retail environment until they get established. (This comes from customer engagement surveys we have done)
So, our industry/hobby needs both online and traditional distribution points to thrive, and while I personally (my opinion only) believe in free trade not controlled access, we need both avenues to be successful to ensure the continued growth of our hobby/business.
I (again, personally) don't think MAP is as evil as some folks make it out to be. Smart online retailers have already figured out how to honor the MAP agreement and still give discounts to their customers, just like good traditional retailers also have in-store specials, customer loyalty discount programs, etc. and still honor MAP. In the same vein, savvy online shoppers will always find the best deal, regardless of MAP.
Again, while I firmly believe in a free market, and even though Winexpert has nothing to do with pricing in the U.S. (other than honoring our existing distribution agreement) I think that MAP is beneficial in that it sets a fair starting point for pricing products. Many retailers sell higher, many sell lower, and both are free to do so under MAP.
