BY KYLE SWARTZ

The 2023 annual conference saw Fred Wooton , second from left in the left photo , become the new NABCA Chairman .

The event ’ s theme matched that of outgoing NABCA Chairman Tim Holden : “ Powers of the Past , Forces of the Future .” It was an apt phrase , as panels throughout the multiday event at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center explored the changing landscape of alcohol control .

For instance : the influx of name-brand , nonalcoholic beverages that have launched hard versions . Mountain Dew , Coca Cola , and SunnyD , to name a few .

“ It ’ s a significant move ,” said Terrance Merriweather , NABCA Director of Public Policy , during the “ Alcohol Regulatory and Policy Update ” panel .

Of concern : Will these new products confuse children , and encourage underage consumption ? “ We don ’ t want a kid grabbing a hard Mountain Dew by accident ,” Merriweather said . “ Things are changing fast in this world . We have the Virginia Governor saying , ‘ I want these products to be in the stores to offer customers the opportunity to buy them , but you have to separate them ’” from their normal versions .

Problem is , global conglomerates behind these brands ( like PepsiCo ) have significant logistical pull . The result is endcaps of hard Mountain Dew located within feet of stacked pallets of nonalcoholic Pepsi products . Or , worse , alcoholic products stocked below Frito-Lay chips or Hot Wheels toy cars . In one food circular distributed in Tennessee , hard Mountain Dew appeared in the middle of a page advertising nonalcoholic Pepsi items . All of these alarming scenarios were on display during the panel , “ Blurring of Soft Drinks to Hard Drinks .”

“ These products have a different route to market than how our beer distributors bring products to market ,” said Paul Pisano , Senior Vice President and General Counsel , National Beer Wholesalers Association . “ Soft drinks companies have different rules than independent alcohol companies . All of the soft drinks company ’ s products end up on the same truck .” “ We ’ re seeing them end up in the energy drinks aisle , too ,” he added . Speaking of emerging trends elsewhere , Mark Dunham , VABC Chief Retail Operations

Officer , recounted the commission ’ s recent installation of an automated warehouse system .

“ Automation is a great thing ,” he said . “ But it ’ s like your computer . It ’ s a great thing — when it works .”

A myriad of issues hampered the project ’ s early days . LED lighting interfered with scanners in a conveyor belt tunnel that sorts items for shipping . Employees unintentionally placed products outside of the reach of the real-time inventory tracking , causing delays and extra work . In another headache , the cloud-based software provider did not account for weekend work , and shut down the software in the middle of a busy Saturday shift .

“ When it comes to automation , I say , ‘ Ease into it , ease into it , ease into it ,’” Dunham said . “ Had we eased into it , we would have had a less stressful transition . It took us eight weeks to commission the scanner system when it should have taken us two . We started with too many items . We should have only started with five .”

The new system also tracks and displays employee productivity in real time . Managers can see how long each individual task takes a staffer to complete , and where the labor occurred . “ At first this irked some of our employees , but then the best workers realized that this benefited them the most ,” Dunham said .

Among the keynoters was Mike Mullen , retired United States Navy admiral and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under presidents Bush and Obama . Moderator and Fortune Senior

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