News from Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association

Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association Newsletter

(September 26, 2010 - October 2, 2010)

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The MMBA 3rd Annual Food Drive is finally upon us. I am very exited to see what our membership can collectively do this year.

20.5 tons of food in 2009 was a great accomplishment and I challenge the membership by setting a goal of 40 tons.

Many member cities have been very creative with the way they promote the Food Drive.

Unique ways of promoting the Food Drive have included collecting at the local fall festival, holding a Food Drive wine tasting, going to local businesses for donations, and offering discounts for donations.

Many operations have enlisted local media to help promote the effort as well. Some members pay for ads and many have received various media coverage.

You know your community best, so do what you think is best for yours.

Good luck to all of our membership and remember, no matter how much you collect this October, your community will benefit by your participation and hard work.

Brian Hachey

Stacy Wine & Spirits Manager

MMBA Secretary / Treasurer

MMBA Food Drive Creator

Institute for Beverage Professionals Now On-Line - Featuring Wine 101!!!

One of the trends in our business is the shift away from full-time employees to part-time staff.

A great number of these employees are very part-time and working the night shift. Unfortunately these individuals probably do not have high product knowledge, yet they often come into contact with customers who have the most purchasing power.

To help address this disconnect, MMBA has introduced a new on-line training course to help address this disconnect.

The Institute for Beverage Professionals (IBP) is open to full and part-time employees in all sectors of the beverage industry.

IBP's goal is to provide training that will translate into improved individual sales skills, a higher personal professionalism, and enhanced facility revenue and image.

The training includes written materials, testing and certificates of completion.

IBP is designed to be a supplemental training that should be combined with instruction provided by an employer.

The first courses are Wine 101 and responsible beverage service. Planned future courses include beer, spirits, customer service and more.

Access IBP Here

Click Here for the Wine 101 Preview

Idea of the Week

By BarOwnerTips.com

A drink from the bar should never go out unless it's garnished too....not just garnished with an old lime or a cherry, but well garnished with something that will add to the flavor and visual appeal of the drink.

Why would you take the time to garnish your drinks well?

It's simple. Studies show that bar customers perceive a higher quality drink when it is appropriately garnished.

What this means is that the better a drink looks, the more your customers will like it and the more you can charge for it.

A good garnish adds a "wow" factor to drinks. Not only will the person who gets the beverage be "wowed," but a well garnished drinkcatches the eye of other customers and sparks interest in the beverage.

Out of ideas for "wow" garnishes? Here are some ideas:

fruit foam, gelee, fruit, herbs and spices frozen into ice cubes, thin slices of sugarcane, lychee berries, frozen grapes, blue cheese stuffed olives, edible flowers, mint leaves, rock candy, sugared fruit slices, candy sticks, and chocolate art.

You can also rim the edges of your glasses with colored sugars, edible glitter or flavored powders for more visual appeal.

Serve a newly created cocktail with a unique garnish and see what happens.

If the drink is special enough, people will buy it (and at a higher price than your regular cocktails.)

MMBA Food Drive Starts Today!!

The 3rd Annual MMBA Food drive starts today

(October 1) with 125 cities participating.

The following is a press release from the City of Edina:

This October, Edina Liquor will again partner with MillerCoors and the Minnesota Municipal Beverage Association to collect food and cash donations for local food shelves.

The third-annual Municipal Liquor Food Drive will be Oct. 1-30. Customers are asked to bring nonperishable canned goods or dry food donations to any one of Edina Liquor's three locations during store hours.

Food items brought to Edina Liquor will be donated to Volunteers Enlisted to Assist People, a local non-profit agency serving low-income, elderly and disabled persons in Bloomington, Edina, Richfield and south Minneapolis.

Customers bringing in five or more items will receive a 10 percent discount on their purchases at Edina Liquor. The discount will not be applied to product-of-the-month specials or closeout items.

MillerCoors will donate $1,000 each to the food shelves of the two stores that collect the most food during the statewide drive. In addition, the other participating stores will be eligible for one of ten $100 contributions determined by a random drawing.

In the two years since the Food Drive began, Edina Liquor has collected over 1,500 pounds of food for VEAP. In 2008, municipal liquor patrons statewide donated over 11 tons of food. Last year, that total increased to over 20 tons.

* Make other team members

more successful

* Keep improving

Future Dates to Remember!!