Massachusetts leads the way for a national crackdown on pay-to-play
Federal alcohol regulators on Wednesday vowed a national crackdown on “pay-to-play” in the beer industry, taking aim at an illegal practice that came to light last year in Massachusetts when the state caught a distributor paying bars to put its brews on tap.
Such schemes, federal officials said, limit consumers’ opportunity to choose from a broader variety of beers by awarding tap handles to the highest bidder. The practice is also harmful to small craft brewers who rely on taps to gain access to the market but can’t afford to outbid larger companies in order to secure them.
Officials at the US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau issued the warning of a crackdown Wednesday as they announced the settlement of a previously undisclosed six-month investigation of the Bay State distributor, Craft Brewers Guild.
The Everett-based company already admitted to Massachusetts regulators last year that it paid various Boston bars more than $120,000 to stock its beers and freeze out those offered by competitors, a practice officials ruled was a violation of state regulations.
Read more: http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2016/11/16/feds-penalize-massachusetts-beer-wholesaler-over-pay-play-practice/lhegBlARVhklHmFcl8Ob2L/story.html