SOME SEE TOO MANY BEERS FOR OKTOBERFEST

RICHARD TURCSIK

The Oktoberfest season is putting beverage category management programs and planograms to the test, several retailers told SN.

"We don't even attempt to carry every Oktoberfest beer that comes out because it is such a short-term deal in the stores. At the end of the month you would have to replace them, and to try and work in all of these short-term beers would just mess up the entire flow of the beer set," said Oscar Sicola, liquor and beer buyer and merchandiser for Fiesta Mart, Houston, which heavily merchandises Oktoberfest.

"We go very limited on them."

In the United States, Oktoberfest, named after the German festival that celebrates the fall harvest, generally runs for about four weeks from late September to early October.

Each year, more microbrewers are creating special Oktoberfest beers for sale during the period. In some instances, the proliferation of limited-edition brews is beginning to clog up the aisles.

Because of the short selling period, Oktoberfest beers present greater risks to retailers than other seasonal beers, such as winter and spring varieties that have a sell-through period of about three months, retailers said.

"Oktoberfest is like the Christmas beers -- there are too many, but if you focus [on the right brands] they are very popular," said Walt Sumner, corporate beer and wine manager at Harris Teeter, Charlotte, N.C. "We've taken the top brand, which is Beck's, and really focused on that, and then we've taken one other German specialty Oktoberfest and worked with that. We have kind of let the rest go by the wayside."

Tom Roesner, beer, wine and liquor buyer at Seaway Food Town, Maumee, Ohio, said an "overkill" is brewing in Oktoberfest varieties.

"The biggest problem is what do you do when Oktoberfest is over? You either buy too little or too much. Either way is not good for business," he said. "We're more inclined to go with the seasonal beers for the fall and winter because they have a greater selling time frame than just a one- or two-week period."

Fiesta Mart runs an Oktoberfest theme during October in the stores, and German beers, wine, cheese and sausages are heavily promoted. Nonetheless, Sicola of Fiesta Mart said he is placing limits on Oktoberfest brands stocked.

Duane Smith, merchandiser of beer and wine at Bellingham, Wash.-based Haggen, said his chain will advertise several German-style beers, including Thomas Kemper, Pete's Wicked Ale, Beck's and St. Pauli Girl in an Oktoberfest promotion that will take place in October.

He said successful Oktoberfest beers use the same Universal Product Codes for all their seasonal products.

"Guys that change UPC codes, like Pete's, we will do this year, but chances are that we won't do it next year because it ends up being too much work and too much labor on our end. There is just not a big enough bang for what we are getting into," he said.

Instead, Haggen will concentrate on brands like Samuel Adams and Pyramid, which have a different seasonal product four times a year but use the same UPC.

"As a retailer we don't care what it is, as long as it sells. But the guys that think they are going to switch each season and get an appointment six times a year to try the new beers are going to be in for a rude awakening. We just don't have time to deal with it," he said.

Some retailers, like Raley's, West Sacramento, Calif., are not playing up Oktoberfest as they have in the past.

"Oktoberfest is not a big deal like it was before. The major chains are not dedicating the merchandising space to promote a total program of Oktoberfest because the items involved in Oktoberfest, like sausages, are not really good selling items," said Bob Jennings, Raley's beverage buyer and merchandising manager.

Nonetheless, Raley's will still be stocking select Oktoberfest beers.

"You just can't carry all the Oktoberfest items. Plus, it is a shorter window than a seasonal beer," he said.

Beer manufacturers are divided on the importance of Oktoberfest promotions. Some, like Boston Beer Co., Boston, which contracts out the popular Samuel Adams craft beer, are placing a greater emphasis on Oktoberfest beers.

"Samuel Adams was the original Oktoberfest for the craft brews, and it is our most popular seasonal item. We can't keep the stuff on the shelf. It began shipping in mid-August and will probably be gone before Oct. 1," said Jon Troy, director of national retail accounts.

"What we've done differently this year is to really put some programming behind it. In the past people just waited for it; now we're really generating some excitement for it, including trips to Oktoberfest in Germany," he said.

However, Mark W. Holdren, vice president of marketing promotions at Genesee Brewing Co., Rochester, N.Y., said his company is not doing an Oktoberfest promotion this year, although it did have a Genny Oktoberfest product several years ago.

"We believe it is a pretty tight time frame of only one month in which to introduce a product, unlike something like a Winterfest, and that's why we haven't really gotten into it," he told SN.

John Hoylman, a spokesman for Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing Co., said Miller doesn't have any corporate Oktoberfest promotions scheduled for its products, which include Lowenbrau and Leinenkugel's German-style products.

"I'm sure there may be some distributors in Minneapolis and Milwaukee and other areas that may have promotions related to Oktoberfest, but it is not a corporate program," he said.