HOUSTON -- Texans coach and general manager Bill O'Brien on Friday said the team is "working hard" with quarterback Deshaun Watson's representatives on a contract extension, and that "we want him here for a long time."
Watson, a first-round pick in 2017, was eligible for a contract extension for the first time this offseason. He made less than $3.8 million in 2019, which was just 4.88% of the Texans' cap. He is scheduled to make $4.4 million during the 2020 season.
"Deshaun is a great player, an even better person, and we want him here for a long time," O'Brien said. "... I know that we're working hard. We're not going to really talk about it in the media, but obviously we feel so strongly about him and the future of him in this offense, in this organization, and we want him here for a long time."
The Texans began "very preliminary" discussions with Watson and his agents about a new deal in April.
"Respectfully, we're not going to talk about contracts in the media, but we obviously have stated [that] we have so much belief in Deshaun," O'Brien said Friday. "We love Deshaun. We want him here for a long time, but we're not going to negotiate contracts or do anything like that in the media. We'll keep that between us and Deshaun's representatives. He's here, he's excited and we're excited about the season."
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was drafted two picks before Watson in 2017, signed a 10-year extension earlier this month that could be worth up to $503 million, sources told ESPN.
During a recent interview with Michael Vick on Fox Sports, Watson said his situation is different from that of Mahomes.
"My situation, and I don't want to say anything too crazy, is different than his," Watson said. "Signing a deal for 10 years, you know, I have to speak with my agent on that. Sit down and think, 'What do I want in my career? Where I want to be for a long period of time?' I love Houston, I love the organization, I love the teammates and all the players, but all that stuff is always changing."
When COVID-19 hit the United Kingdom in March, Michele Veldsman—a postdoc at the University of Oxford—took her 2-year-old daughter out of day care. She and her husband split child care responsibilities so they could each work half days. However, by the time she responded to urgent emails and questions from students in her lab, she had little time left to dive into the data analyses and writing she’d hoped to make progress on. “A lot of the scientific work I’m doing really needs sustained time to be able to focus,” she says—time that was sorely missing.
Veldsman, a cognitive neuroscientist, also saw lost opportunities for career development. Many of her colleagues participated in virtual conferences, training courses, and journal clubs, but she didn’t have time for anything that didn’t have an immediate deadline. She also postponed collaborations that could bolster her career—she’s currently 2 years into a third postdoc, hoping to land a faculty position. “I really need to be going to the stage of independence,” she says. “Collaborations … show that independence, which I don’t have time to do now.”
For months, stories such as Veldman’s have flooded social media. “All it takes is 5 minutes on Twitter to see how much people are struggling right now,” says Michelle Cardel, an assistant professor of nutritional science at the University of Florida. But until recently, the reports from scientist parents had been largely anecdotal, she adds.
Now data are starting to emerge quantifying the scale of the struggle. All else being equal, parents who had children 5 years of age or younger suffered a 17% larger decline in research hours than those who did not, according to a study of about 4500 U.S. and European principal investigators surveyed this spring, published this month in Nature Human Behavior. And a survey of about 3300 Brazilian academics conducted in April and May found that parents—especially mothers of young children—were less able to submit manuscripts as planned, as reported in a preprint posted to bioRxiv this month.
The findings are consistent with a study that Cardel co-authored on U.S. faculty members, which is currently in review, she says. “It was the people with 0- to 5-year-olds who had much lower reported hours and a lot less productivity.”
The hit to parents isn’t surprising, but the data strengthen the case for why scientist parents need extra support right now, says Jessica Metcalf, an associate professor of animal sciences at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, and a member of the advisory board for the group 500 Women Scientists. “I have colleagues who … are waking up at 3 or 4 in the morning so that they can have time to work before the kids wake up,” she says.
“It’s just been a constant juggling act,” says Larry Snyder, a professor of industrial and systems engineering at Lehigh University and the father of 8- and 12-year-old girls. In May, he and his wife—an English professor at Lehigh—were so frustrated with the difficulty of getting work done that they decided to conduct an “experiment,” tracking interruptions by their daughters over 3 hours. They found that their children needed assistance 15 times per hour. The data “really did help explain why we felt like, if you added it up, we had enough time to work, but at the same time it just felt really impossible,” he says. Interruptions take “your attention away, and it takes a while to get your attention back.” (While speaking with Science Careers, one of Snyder’s daughters interrupted to ask for his iPad so she could do her math exercises. “I didn’t stage that,” he joked.)
Given these challenges, many academics are pushing for policies that will ease the burden on parents. At Stanford University, postdocs and faculty members sent letters to administrators last month, asking that campus day care centers be reopened as soon as possible. Earlier this month, 500 Women Scientists released a policy statement for supervisors and administrators, recommending flexible deadlines, contract extensions, and other workplace adjustments that could help parents.
Some institutions have given all junior faculty tenure clock extensions. But it’s not clear whether such policies will ultimately benefit parents, says Dashun Wang, the director of the Center for Science of Science and Innovation at Northwestern University and a coauthor of the Nature Human Behavior study. He pointed to a 2018 study that looked at the impact of gender neutral policies that extended tenure clocks after the birth of a child. “That kind of policy actually ended up exacerbating [gender] differences,” he says—men published more after the policy went into effect and their tenure rates went up; tenure rates for women, however, went down. “I wonder if that’s the case here,” he says. Parents may ultimately be disadvantaged “if we extend some benefits to every scientist without considering their hidden household realities.”
There’s no “one-size-fits-all” solution to the challenges parents face, says Mary Sue Coleman, the president of the Association of American Universities. For example, graduate students and faculty may require different forms of support, and approaches may vary by discipline. “What I would hope is that universities would really sit down and have serious discussions with those who are affected and try to jointly come up with some solutions.”
She adds that university administrators are in a difficult position. “The financial consequences [of COVID-19] are devastating,” says Coleman, who is a former university president. “A lot of the issues that people are talking about are ones that require money to make happen, and that’s going to be in short supply—so it’s going to be very tough.”
Looking ahead, early career researchers are especially nervous. “My biggest concern is the long-term impact,” Veldman says. She’d like institutions and funding agencies to make clear how they are going to account for disparate impacts on scientists during the pandemic. “I can’t give as many talks, I can’t participate in conferences, I can’t do [trainings], I’ve had to shut down collaborations,” she says. “How am I supposed to account for this on my CV?”
Universities may also want to consider redistributing teaching loads away from professors who have small children, says Fernanda Staniscuaski, an associate professor of molecular biology at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and the lead author of the study on Brazilian academics. “It doesn’t sound fair … because it’s my choice to have children,” she told Science Careers while breastfeeding her third child. “But maybe for those that can take some more credits right now, it may be voluntary.”
A voluntary system may sound far-fetched, but Rebecca Calisi—an associate professor of neurobiology at the University of California, Davis—says that’s precisely what’s been happening at her university. She isn’t able to help junior colleagues because she’s barely surviving herself with 4- and 8-year-old children at home. “I feel exhausted,” she says. “By the end of the day I feel more behind in my work than when I started.” But some senior faculty members have volunteered to take on extra classes. “I hope I see more of [that] across the country and the globe.”
Ironbound’s Cape May Rosé is incredibly refreshing and incredibly Jersey in its ingredients. Photo courtesy of Ironbound
Cape May County meets Hunterdon County in Cape May Rosé, this summer’s release from Ironbound Hard Cider. Local apples are expertly blended with beach plums and aronia berries sourced from JalmaFarms, a family-run farm for over 300 years, minutes from the shore in Ocean View. This rosé cider is incredibly refreshing and incredibly Jersey in itsingredients, but limited in its supply and only available at the Ironbound tasting room in Asbury (not Asbury Park).
You’ll also find the more widely available Pinelands Rosé, which blends apples with wild cranberries. And new this year, an entirely from scratch hard seltzer, not thatmass producedstuff you see everywhere. Lemon Ginger Seltzer is already available in a can for the New Jersey retail market (and New York, too). This seltzer is made at the farm, andwith the exception of the lemons, every other ingredient is sourced there — the lemon verbena, ginger and honey, even the water from wells on the property. Truly from a farm and not a factory!
Coca-ColaCo.KO -0.69% said it plans to launch a boozy version of its Topo Chico sparkling water in the U.S. next year, plunging the soda giant into the market for alcoholic beverages.
With the move, the company joins the fray of beverage giants vying for market share as consumers flock to hard seltzer for its minimal calories and lower alcohol level. Americans spent $3 billion on hard seltzer in U.S. retail stores in the 52 weeks ended July 11, up 241% from a year earlier, according to Bump Williams Consulting Co.
It has been decades since Coke sold booze in the U.S. The company previously owned a wine business that it sold in 1983. In 2018, Coke introduced a fizzy, lemon-flavored alcoholic drink in Japan called Lemon-Do.
Coke “is committed to exploring new products in dynamic beverage categories, including hard seltzer,” the company said in a statement posted on its website. “Topo Chico Hard Seltzer is an experimental drink inspired by Topo Chico sparkling mineral water, which has been popular with many mixologists.”
Coke will pilot the alcoholic Topo Chico drink in Latin America later this year, the company said. News of the new product was reported earlier by Beverage Digest, an industry publication.
Alcohol distribution is tightly regulated in the U.S. A Coke spokeswoman said the company hasn’t finalized how it will distribute hard seltzer, which falls under the same regulatory category as beer. Some Coke distributors already hold licenses to carry beer.
Under James Quincey, who became chief executive in 2017, Coke has expanded beyond its core soft-drink franchises. It has launched coffee-infused sodas and an energy-drink version of its namesake cola, despite objections from its partner Monster BeverageCorp. It is also pruning some niche products, such as its Odwalla smoothies and juices.
During the pandemic, the company’s biggest soda brands—including Coke, Coke Zero Sugar and Sprite—have sold well in grocery stores but have taken a hit from a steep drop-off in soda fountain sales.
"The Coca-Cola Company is committed to exploring new products in dynamic beverage categories, including hard seltzer," a company press release stated.
The category is growing at a fast pace, leading to new hard seltzer launches across several brands. In May, Anheuser-Busch launched Social Club Seltzer, a premium seltzer with cocktail flavors, like an Old Fashioned, which is typically made with whiskey, a sugar cube and bitters.
At the beginning of 2018, just 10 hard seltzer brands were on the market, according to a Nielsen report, a number that rose to 26 brands by early 2019. "More than 65 brands are now fighting for consumers' attention and purchase," according to Nielsen.
For the 15-week period ending June 13, hard seltzer products purchased at grocery stores, liquor stores and big-box retailers quadrupled year-over-year, the report said.
"Within the hugely successful and growing hard seltzer segment, new and 'old' brands alike can succeed even if their market share is relatively small or declining, because the total pool of sales of hard seltzer within US retail is growing at such a high rate," Danelle Kosmal, VP of Beverage Alcohol at Nielsen, told CNN Business.
"As such, with new launch after new launch, manufacturers may lose market share but continue growing their sales," she added.
The pandemic will reduce local government revenues by an estimated US$11.6 billion in 2020. With COVID-19 requiring residents to stay home and stores to shutter, the bulk of this reduction comes from a slump in local sales taxes. Declines will continue into 2021.
State revenues are heading in the same direction, so many U.S. cities will need to rely on help from the federal government. Aid to cities may be part of the next pandemic aid package now being discussed by members of the House and Senate. But so far, the Republicans’ bill leaves out any new funding for state and local governments, while the Democrats’ bill includes $1 trillion for it.
And if federal assistance arrives, it will not fix every city’s budget.
The pandemic has hit budgets so hard that even cities in relatively good financial health – including those with rainy day funds to help them through an emergency – will face significant changes to staffing and services.
For cities in the poorest shape, the pandemic could mean bankruptcy.
The Northern California city of Vallejo declared bankruptcy in 2008. Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Size matters
Bankruptcy is a legal process where people, companies and governments who cannot pay their debts seek to reduce them.
Which debts get paid during a bankruptcy are important decisions. They involve how comfortable a city employee’s retirement might be, the level of health insurance for pensioners and workers, the extent of labor protections for employees and the future cost of borrowing for a city.
City bankruptcy was created by Congress after the Great Depression, in response to 4,770 different units of city government going belly up. Twenty-seven states now allow their cities to file for bankruptcy.
Those states that do not allow city bankruptcy – Georgia and Iowa explicitly prohibit filing, with the other 21 states having no specific allowance or prohibition – manage the problem of city indebtedness in various ways, ranging from strict budget oversight to the disbanding of heavily indebted cities. Since 1938, city bankruptcy has been used around 700 times.
A city’s bankruptcy differs from corporate bankruptcy in that it does not allow for the liquidation of assets. For cities, bankruptcy is used to reduce debts, not sell off things – such as public roads and buildings – to pay off debts. The bankruptcy judge’s role is to determine whether the proposed reduction is fair to all people the city owes money to, which may include workers, pensioners, bankers, suppliers and investors.
But bankruptcies can look different in different cities.
We are scholars who research changes in how cities go about budgeting. Our work has showed that the city bankruptcies that followed the Great Recession of 2007 and 2008 were not uniform.
If you were in a big city, your government owed money to lots of people. The converse was true in small cities. As the number of participants in a bankruptcy increases, the task of deciding how much different creditors should get repaid becomes more complicated.
Somebody doesn’t get paid
Westfall Township, Pennsylvania, home to about 2,000 people, declared bankruptcy in 2009 after losing a lawsuit to New Jersey real estate developers David and Barbara Katz. Courts ruled that the city owed the Katzes $20.8 million after improperly denying them permission to develop projects in the township.
With annual revenues of just $1 million, Westfall had few options but to file for bankruptcy.
Resolving Westfall’s bankruptcy meant reaching a new agreement with the Katzes. The bankruptcy court approved a $6 million settlement with the developers and gave Westfall 20 years to pay. The city would also raise property taxes and delay the repayment of other debts. By 2014, Westfall’s budget had recovered enough for Pennsylvania to remove it from its list of distressed cities.
Bankruptcy proceedings were more complicated in Vallejo, California, which is on the northern end of San Francisco Bay. Vallejo, population 120,000, had a 2008-2009 budget of $79.6 million. In 2008, the city lost around one-quarter of its revenues as local sales taxes and real estate development fees collapsed. Vallejo suddenly found itself unable to pay all of its bills.
The City Council voted unanimously to file for bankruptcy.
In its bankruptcy filing, the city estimated it had between 1,000 and 5,000 creditors. The most contentious part of the bankruptcy concerned the city’s obligations to its own unionized employees. Vallejo argued that its bankruptcy should include the option of reducing employee wages and benefits, and changing working conditions, if necessary, without union consent.
The judge agreed and, in doing so, expanded what types of debt could be reduced in bankruptcy. This was, and remains, controversial. Although unions have pushed back, later bankruptcies have confirmed the court’s decision.
Vallejo ultimately chose not to impose new employment contracts on most of its employees.
That decision helped Vallejo avoid costly legal battles – but the city’s main expenditures, wages and pensions, remained largely unaltered. The city emerged out of bankruptcy solvent but struggling. Filing for bankruptcy ended up costing Vallejo over $20 million in court and legal fees.
Art, philanthropy and pension debts in Detroit
Vallejo’s bankruptcy foreshadowed an even more complex one in Detroit, where revenue decline and failed Wall Street bets left the city unable to balance its budget.
Detroit listed 100,000 creditors in its 2013 bankruptcy filing, totaling $18.5 billion in debts. Like Vallejo, Detroit would have to decide which creditors to stiff, effectively asking them to pay for the city’s budget failures.
Detroit’s biggest debt during bankruptcy was to its pension holders. Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
The eventual settlement would reduce Detroit’s debts by $7 billion, mostly by slashing the amount of borrowed money the city would have to repay to banks and investors.
But no creditor would walk away unscathed. Wages, pensions and health care for city employees were all cut. The city also entered into a complex “Grand Bargain” brokered by local philanthropists with the state of Michigan and pension holders that helped settle the city’s largest debt, which was to pensioners, while keeping in the city its one major asset, the Detroit Institute of Art’s collection.
The administrative and legal costs of the Detroit bankruptcy came in at around $100 million.
No single path
The bigger the city, the more complicated and expensive the bankruptcy. More creditors means more lawyers making competing claims on the city’s dwindling revenues.
It also makes the process of picking winners and losers more complex and something that can involve testing the limits of bankruptcy law. When these limits expand, just what going bust means can change dramatically. Things that once seemed untouchable, like pensions, can become vulnerable in bankruptcy courts.
With many budgets in tatters, the prospect of growing numbers of city bankruptcies looms. Distressed cities will have to figure out what the process means for them.
It is rarely possible to predict what any city will decide. With any part of a city’s operations – including salaries, pensions, road repairs, borrowing, park maintenance, policing, libraries – potentially fair game, everyone involved faces great uncertainty. There is no single, predictable path through city bankruptcy.
Coca-Cola on Tuesday announced it will release a hard seltzer under its Topo Chico brand later this year.
The new drink will be sold in select cities in Latin America. Topo Chico Hard Seltzer will launch in the United States in 2021, making it the company's first foray into alcoholic beverages in its home market for the first time since it sold its Wine Spectrum business in 1983.
Coke acquired Topo Chico in 2017. The sparkling mineral water is a cult favorite among Texans, but the beverage giant has been expanding its distribution since the deal. On the company's second-quarter earnings call, CEO James Quincey referred to Topo Chico as a rising star in Coke's portfolio.
Both sparkling water and hard seltzer are fast-growing categories for the beverage industry. In 2019, hard seltzer's volume more than tripled, helping reverse the trend of declining global alcohol consumption, according to IWSR.
White Claw, which is owned by Mike's Hard Lemonade brewer Mark Anthony Brands, and Boston Beer's Truly hold most of the market share. Other beverage giants, including Anheuser-Busch InBev and Constellation Brands, have added hard seltzer lines to some of their most recognizable brands.
Coke said it would share more details about Topo Chico Hard Seltzer closer to the launch.
At least 100 Catholic elementary and secondary schools may have to close this fall, because COVID-19 concerns are leading to lower enrollments. Families of color may be hardest hit.
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — The bright yellow Hotel Holiday in downtown Sarajevo has seen good times and bad times in its 37-year history. Mostly, it has been a symbol of survival in the once-turbulent Bosnian capital.
Now the boxy landmark is in danger once again, with the coronavirus pandemic leaving it with few guests.
Bosnia, like the rest of the Balkans, has been hit hard by the virus. Cases have been rising in Bosnia since mid-May, when a strict lockdown was lifted and many people seemed to start disregarding social distancing rules and ditching masks.
The country of 3.5 million has reported nearly 10,500 cases and 294 deaths, many since the restrictions were eased.
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Amid the pandemic, there are hardly any tourists or business travelers visiting the capital, leaving the hotel with many empty rooms.
It originally opened as part of the Holiday Inn hotel chain and was luxurious accommodation for royalty, movie stars and other dignitaries who came to the 1984 Winter Olympics.
Less than a decade later, it was ground zero for the bloody siege of Sarajevo in the 1990s and an uneasy shelter for the many foreign journalists who arrived to cover the conflict.
“The hotel was working all the time through the war,” said general manager Zahid Bukva, who has been employed there since it opened in 1983.
“There was so much shelling and sniping aimed at our hotel, it was devastating,” he said. “There wasn’t a single window left intact here. But even then, we fought and we provided the service to these foreign journalists.”
The hotel, controversial from the start because of its bright color and Lego-like structure, was often targeted by Serbs in the nearby hills during their three-year siege of the capital that left thousands dead and injured in the capital.
It survived several direct hits from grenades and shells, as well as constant sniper fire that prompted journalists and staff to use side doors instead of the main lobby entrance.
Just before the start of the war in 1992, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic — now a convicted war criminal — used the hotel as his headquarters, surrounded by armed men wearing masks to hide their identities.
They were believed to be Serbian security officers who fired their sniper rifles from the hotel at peaceful protesters in April 1992 — the incident believed to have triggered the start of the civil war that left more than 100,000 dead and millions homeless.
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As journalists rushed to Sarajevo to cover the escalating tensions, the Holiday Inn became the place to be. At the end of a dangerous day, they often swapped their front-line experiences and stories in a ground-floor restaurant.
“This hotel became something as a front line for a period,” said Kenneth Morrison, a history professor at De Montfort University in Leicester, England, who wrote a book about it.
“It was used exclusively by journalists, aid workers and some diplomats,” he said. “The courage and resourcefulness of the staff during those difficult times is an incredible story in itself.”
He said the hotel “faced many challenges in its relatively short history.”
“It’s only 37 years old, but in many ways, the challenges it’s facing now are far more significant,” Morrison said of the pandemic.
“One can only hope that this building, which survived all that’s been thrown at it, can survive this latest crisis,” he said.
Hotel director Hajro Rovcanin believes it will.
“The hotel survived through a lot, and I think that we will overcome this corona crisis,” he said.
___
Associated Press writer Dusan Stojanovic in Belgrade, Serbia, contributed.
A closed sign is displayed in the window of a business in a nearly deserted lower Manhattan on April 17, 2020 in New York City,
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
When the government releases gross domestic product data on Thursday, it is expected to show an unprecedented contraction of nearly 35% in the second quarter when America shut down to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Economists forecast a 34.7% decline in gross domestic product during the second quarter, following a 5% decline in the first quarter, according to Dow Jones consensus forecast. The report is expected at 8:30 a.m. ET.
The decline was led by a sharp drop in consumption as consumers stayed home, businesses closed and schools taught children remotely.
"This is the largest decline in 70 years of quarterly data," said Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton. Aside from the Great Depression, when there was no quarterly data, other sharp quarterly drops were 10% in 1958; 8% in 1980's first quarter, and the 8.4% drop in the financial crisis in the fourth quarter of 2008.
"It should be a pretty awful number, mainly because of the collapse in personal spending early in the quarter," said Michael Gapen, chief U.S. economist at Barclays. "None of that is new news and markets have been expecting a catastrophic dive in Q2 GDP. Really it just tells you how deep the hole was so you know how far you have to go to climb out of it. ...70% of the economy is consumption."
After the shutdowns in April and May, consumers increased their spending on goods again in May and by June, and government retail sales data showed spending near pre-pandemic levels.
Swonk expects consumption to be down more than 36%, and she is watching the report to see how much services spending slid. "We fell 5 percentage points in the first quarter and consumption was down 6.8%," she said. "The problem is services is such a large share of consumption, and we lost a lot of services."
Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank, said he is watching the report for any clues on the third quarter, which could show up in consumption.
"The GDP is too backward looking here, especially after the briefing with [Fed] Chairman [Jerome] Powell. He was explicit that the recurrence of the virus starting in mid-June led to a reduction in spending," he said.
Economists expect a rebound in the third quarter, but there are a range of views on how strong the comeback will be. In the CNBC/Moody's Analytics survey of economists, the average forecast is for an increase of 16.4% in third quarter GDP.
July 30, 2020 at 05:37AM
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/29/historic-second-quarter-gdp-report-will-show-how-hard-the-economy-crashed-in-virus-shutdowns.html
Historic second-quarter GDP report will show how hard the economy crashed in virus shutdowns - CNBC
The streak of consecutive billion dollar weeks for the beer category now stands at nine — and hard seltzers are continuing to push triple-digit growth.
For the one-week period ending July 18, off-premise dollar sales of beer, cider and FMBs increased 15.4%, to $1.042 billion, compared to the same one-week period in 2019, according to market research firm Nielsen. Volume sales for the week increased 12% compared to last year.
Take out the beyond beer offerings, including hard seltzers, and core beer dollar sales increased 8.6%.
Year-to-date through July 18, beer category sales are up 15.8%, to $26.4 billion, in off-premise retailers.
In the latest one-week period, all segments were in the black in off-premise retailers year-over-year, which Nielsen VP of beverage alcohol practice Danelle Kosmal noted is likely due to the second round of closures of on-premise establishments.
Even in the face of tough comparisons from the 2019 “summer of seltzer,” hard seltzer is posting “phenomenal” growth rates, increasing dollar sales 142% in the latest one-week period, Kosmal wrote. The growth of hard seltzers has led Nielsen to break out hard seltzers from the FMB segment, and the two will be tallied as separate segments moving forward.
Hard seltzers now account for 45% of the total beer category growth, driven by segment leaders White Claw (Mark Anthony Brands), Truly Hard Seltzer (Boston Beer Company) and Bud Light Seltzer (Anheuser-Busch), Kosmal wrote.
“Given the unique circumstances of 2020, it’s interesting to see how well new brands are performing this year,” she added. “Three of the top six seltzer brands for the latest week (ranked by off-premise dollars) were either new brands or brand extensions launched in 2020.”
In a separate report released this morning, market research firm IRI reported that the White Claw brand family’s off-premise dollar sales are on the cusp of $1 billion, at $999,980,173, an increase of 259.5% year-to-date through July 12. That makes White Claw the seventh largest beer category brand family in the U.S.
Meanwhile, the Truly brand family’s year-to-date dollar sales are up 195.4%, to more than $441.2 million. Truly is the eleventh best selling brand family in off-premise retailers so far.
And the Bud Light Seltzer band family has posted more than $172.6 million in off-premise sales through mid-July.
Back to Nielsen and the week ending July 18, dollar sales for super premiums (+20.6%), craft beer (+12.6%), Mexican imports (+7.2%), premium lights (+6.4%), FMBs (+5%) and below premiums (+0.4%) were all back to growth for the week.
Total alcoholic beverage sales increased 19% for the week, with the growth rates of spirits (+29.3%) and wine (+19.7%) continuing to outpace beer, Nielsen reported.
The beer category also posted a “strong week” in the convenience channel, increasing dollar sales 18.4% and outpacing the growth rates in the grocery channel (+15.4%) for the week.
Nielsen also offered a look into different time periods during the COVID-19 pandemic. The firm offered a definition for the three periods.
The “COVID Year-to-Date” period, covering the first week of March through July 18. In that period, beer category dollar sales were up 19.8%, to $20.1 billion, compared to the same time last year.
The “Restricted Living” period, covering the first week of March through the end of May. During Restricted Living, beer category sales increased 21.8%, to $12.4 billion, compared to last year.
The “Reopening” period, the first week of June through July 18. During Reopening, beer category dollar sales increased 16.6%, to $7.6 billion, compared to the same time last year.
Kosmal also noted the biggest shifts between the Restricted Living to the Reopening phases:
Beer category (beer/FMBs/cider) in the grocery channel: +30.1% during restricted living versus +18.6% in reopening period;
Cider: +18.6% in restricted living versus +6.7% during reopening;
FMBs (excluding seltzers): +23.1% during restricted living versus +11.7% during reopening;
Kombucha: +70.0% during restricted living versus +30% during reopening;
Mexican imports: +20.4% during restricted living versus +10.5% during reopening, some of which may be due to out of stock issues;
Hard seltzer: +312% during restricted living versus +180% during reopening.
Segments that have largely remained steady between these two phases are super premiums, premium lights, craft beer and non-alcoholic beer, Kosmal added.
“We think the reopening growth rates are a better indication of what we potentially will see through the end of the summer, and maybe even into the fall,” she concluded.
July 30, 2020 at 03:40AM
https://www.brewbound.com/news/nielsen-hard-seltzers-account-for-45-of-total-beer-category-growth-in-off-premise-retailers-during-latest-1-week-period/
Nielsen: Hard Seltzers Account for 45% of Total Beer Category Growth in Off-Premise Retailers During Latest 1 Week Period - Brewbound.com
The U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. July 22, 2019.
When the U.S. Supreme Court closed out its term earlier this month, many liberals breathed a sigh of relief. The conservative majority, in its first full term featuring two appointees of President Donald Trump, delivered wins to both sides, raising speculation that the historically conservative Chief Justice John Roberts had shifted to the center.
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PizzaHacker, the Mission Street pizza spot known for its cult-fave pies and its “Franken-Weber” grill, is crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. After seven years on a Bernal Heights stretch of Mission Street, founder Jeff Krupman is opening a second location inside a gigantic new beer hall in Mill Valley, called The Junction a vast space next to the Dipsea Trail called the Junction.
According to the Junction’s co-owner, Liz Fiedler (who, with her husband, Dez, founded Bay Area fro-yo mini-chain Loving Cup, which they sold off in 2018), the plan for a beer garden and taproom started coming together a year-and-a-half ago, and when it came time to choose a food partner (“we didn’t want to do the food ourselves,” Fiedler tells Eater SF), Krupman was first on their list. “PizzaHacker is the best pizza in San Francisco,” she says, “and it all came together.”
An expansive space with a so-called “food partner” and a multitude of outdoor seating seems ready-made for the COVID era, but Fiedler and Krupman swear that they just got lucky — if you can call it that. The enormous space features a landscaped yard, beer garden-style tables, and firepits, with both bench seating and Adirondack-style chairs.
The Junction’s outdoor seating is ideal for the world of mid-2020Pizzahacker/The Junction
On the taproom side, expect an eclectic menu of local brews (names like Henhouse, Cooperage, and Ghost Town), with 18 different offerings on draft. There’s also two rotating taps of hard kombucha (this week, Booch Craft and JustShine), two taps of wine, and slews more by the bottle, glass, or to go.
PizzaHacker’s opening menu boasts all the pies its SF patrons know and love, like its “top shelf” margherita with grana padano and its “short bridge” (sopressata, sausage, and mushrooms). But everything’s bigger in Marin, so this time around, Krupman says they’ll be serving up 14-inch pizzas — which “are about 30 percent bigger” than the ones San Franciscans are used to. There are a couple salads, too, a radicchio and chicories number and their excellent, sourdough crouton-laden kale caesar.
Though the Junction is offering bottles to go at launch, PizzaHacker is starting its life in Marin as a sit-down only affair. Krupman seems aware that immediately launching takeout in a family-heavy burg like Mill Valley might prove unmanageable, so “we’re keeping it pretty simple to get going,” with a Square-based ordering system that’s all done at the table. “It’s like magic,” Krupman says, seemingly unaware that it’s far harder to build a perfect pizza than an app that will take people’s money.
Eventually, he says, there will be PizzaHacker to-go from the Mill Valley kitchen, which, like the dining area, is “big and airy, like we designed it for these times,” Krupman says. The kitchen also sports a new, “steam-proof” oven, Krupman says — perfect for making bagels (an ambition he’s had for years). And, yes, there’s a plan to eventually offer their popular squares, as well as gluten-free pizzas (the latter, especially, a high-demand item in Marin). But that’s all in the future — first, they just need to get the place up and running, which they will as of 3 p.m. on Wednesday, July 29.
The death toll in the United States has crossed 150,000, data from Johns Hopkins University shows. Across the country, cases are still increasing by the tens of thousands and the U.S. reports nearly 1,000 deaths, on average, every day. California, Florida, Texas and several other hard-hit states recorded record-high average deaths this week. President Donald Trump continues to publicly tout the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a Covid-19 treatment, despite scientific research that has shown no benefit of the drug for coronavirus patients.
Here are some of today's biggest developments:
The following data was compiled by Johns Hopkins University:
We have a million reasons to love running—and lately, another million for why running feels so. damn. hard. right. now.
As stress surrounding the pandemic continues to skyrocket, it’s easy (and honestly, understandable) for motivation to plummet. Mix in other factors such as heat, humidity, mask wearing, and cancelled races, and you have a sound argument for talking yourself out of lacing up.
Except, you’re a runner and this sport tends to pull you through tough times, even when the run itself feels tough. To help turn your mindset around and refocus on finding strength and power on the road, we spoke with coaches to get their best strategies for getting back on track and enjoying the rhythm of the (easy!) run again.
The issue: You’re stressed The instant fix: Phone a friend.
For many, running relieves stress, but that’s often an after-effect. If you’re feeling a little too anxious to even start, Annick Lamar, USATF-certified run coach with New York Road Runners, suggests calling a supportive friend. Put your headphones in and chat as you go, just as you would with a regular run buddy, pre social-distancing. And don’t worry about your mileage or pace. “Just focus on getting out the door every day—keeping that structure helps to manage stress,” Lamar says.
Also, finding a calm, quiet route that connects you to nature could lead to a less stressed mindset, Lamar says. She urges urban runners to get out of the city center, and find a park that’s more relaxed. “Spending time in a place that’s special can help you get in a run without feeling like you have to cram it in, while also dealing with stress.”
If that doesn’t seem to work or you’re just feeling too tense to get moving, take a rest day. Don’t feel guilty if that’s the best choice for you. Holly Roser, certified personal trainer and owner of Holly Roser Fitness in San Francisco, says it’s a good idea to check your heart rate (many wearables will tell you what it is in an instant) if you’re feeling extra tense. If your resting heart rate reads over 100, head out for a walk instead. The fresh air might help you wind down and make you feel more ready to run after that stroll.
The issue: It’s SO hot. The instant fix: Carry water and dress for success.
Hydration is vital for those very hot and humid days, so bring water with you to sip on as you go, no matter how far, says Lamar. A hand-held bottle or hydration pack make it easy to run with liquids. And if you’re going for distance, consider bringing something with electrolytes, too.
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Sweat-wicking clothes will also keep you more comfortable—and that includes socks, a piece of gear runners tend to forget about, Lamar says. Skip any cotton pairs and go for technical fabrics. (Check out this list of the best and most comfortable socks for runners.)
Of course, running early in the day or later in the evening, when temperatures cool off, is also a good idea, Lamar adds. Reducing intensity, distance, and speed for those days where it’s really hot might make your run more enjoyable, too. “Know that you’ll still get in a good run, but your body is working hard to regulate temperature, so you may not be able to perform as well as you would in cooler temps,” she adds. “You’ll still gain the benefits, even if it doesn’t match your previous performance.”
The issue: You’re bored with the same old running route. The instant fix: Run it in reverse.
The quickest and easiest way to switch up your typical run routine is to just run in the opposite direction, says Tom Holland, exercise physiologist and author of The Marathon Method. A simple switch like that might offer new views and new inclines that add a little more excitement to your regular route and some new challenges, too.
You can also try breaking it up. For example, in the morning, go for an out-and-back, stopping to turn around at the halfway mark of your usual route. In the evening, do the other half. “Then, you also get a dual hit of feel-good hormones,” Holland says.
The issue: The mask is annoying. The instant fix: Get a moisture-wicking one and pull back on pace.
If you’re in an urban area or just running a crowded course, the Center for Disease Control guidelines recommend wearing a mask when you can’t maintain distance from others, but you’ll want one that wicks away moisture, Lamar says.
She suggests a breathable neck gaiter—try one like this The North Face or Merrell version—as it allows for some airflow. But wear whatever you find to be comfortable and easy to breathe. (Check out this list of best face masks for runners for more options.)
Also, know that running with a mask might take some time to get used to, so if you have to slow down or take more breaks to get a breath of air sans mask, do it. “A lot of folks adapt to running with a mask when they realize it won’t be a perfect re-creation of their regular run,” Lamar says.
The issue: The news has you down. The instant fix: Consider your run your escape.
If you’re looking forward to listening to a podcast, audio book, or pump-you-up playlist more than actually putting one foot in front of the other, that’s okay! Sometimes that can keep you motivated and connected to running, Lamar says. Let those miles be your time to get away from the negative news, tune into more uplifting entertainment, and move your body.
This also means you probably want to let go of metrics like pace and distance and just enjoy the miles, Holland says. He suggests ditching your watch to really make that happen. “It can be hard to do, but it’s so freeing,” he says.
An important PSA: If you’re super down and running just isn’t going to help, just take a break, Lamar says. Do what you need for your mental health, know that you can still contribute to your performance when you’re not running, and that running will be there whenever you’re ready to pick it back up.
The issue: You have no motivation to get out the door. The instant fix: Sign up for a virtual race or buy some new gear.
Yes, races are cancelled—but only the in-person events. You can still follow a training schedule and get to the virtual finish line. Go for a distance that’s challenging, yet doable and follow a plan just as you would for a regular race, Lamar says. Joining a virtual running group that connects you with other runners and sort of re-creates the in-person experience will help you stick to that training schedule, too, she adds.
Roser also suggests joining social media groups that revolve around running or signing up for challenges on apps like Strava to gain some accountability buddies. If you’ve been thinking about hiring a run coach, right now is a great time to do it, as they can help you reach speed goals with tailored plans and hold you to your training sessions, Roser says. Another way to look at it if you keep up with training sans races: You’ll be more ready than ever when they do start opening back up, Holland says.
Finally, sometimes all you need to get running again is a new pair of shoes, shorts, a fitness tracker, or a cool hydration vest. That’s how Holland turns up his excitement to hit the pavement when he’s feeling his motivation wane. It can be something as small as a new pair of sweat-wicking socks or as big as an entirely new outfit or shoes—whatever gets you excited to get out on the road, make the purchase.
The issue: Running just doesn’t feel as important. The instant fix: Connect to the sport in a new way.
“I work with lifelong runners and for the first time, they’re completely detached from running and don’t know how to handle it, and it’s so tied to the state of the world,” Lamar says.
If that sounds familiar to you, try switching up your activity, but do something that still connects you to running. That might mean a yoga class for runners, dance cardio that gets your heart pumping in a similar way, or a strength-training program focused on making you stronger for going the distance or gaining speed. (New York Road Runners’ RUNCENTER at Home program offers tons of free classes, such as yoga, barre, and strength.) It’ll feel refreshing and break up the monotony. “It gives you a new way to get involved in the sport,” Lamar says.
Mallory CrevelingFreelance WriterMallory Creveling, ACE-CPT, has more than 10 years of experience covering fitness, health, and nutrition.
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