DES MOINES, Iowa -- Beer drinkers are finding even more reasons to make their purchases in convenience stores as more and more retailers add beer taps and growler programs, according to a report in USA Today.
“Move over slushy machines. Gas stations and convenience stores are making room for a more adult beverage dispenser,” the report announces. “Draft beer taps where customers can have 64-ounce growlers filled with beer to go have been installed in dozens of gas stations, grocery stores and other retailers around the country.”
With 35 stated allowing growler programs—and laws under consideration in Florida, Iowa and Missouri—the c-store industry is slowly gaining a reputation as a primary location to fill growlers.
"It's definitely becoming more popular," Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association, a national industry group, told the newspaper. "The American public wants to be able to control their experience. They want to be able to take their beer home and pour as much or little as they want."
The report presents details of Sunoco’s Craft Beer Exchange program in the East and The Growler Guys’ franchise program in the Pacific Northwest.
“Today, Sunoco fills growlers in 65 convenience stores in New York and South Carolina,” USA Today reported. “Each has six to 12 beers on tap ranging from $8 to $20 per half-gallon.”
And the Growler Guys have opened 10 franchises, including the original location in a Shell gas station in Bend, Ore., that has more than 30 beers on tap. Since 2012, the company has installed its patented growler-filling system in more than 100 gas stations, grocery stores and other shops.
"I don't think it's going to be a flash in the pan," co-founder Tony Lane said. "We're trying to change the way beer is distributed."
Click here to read the complete USA Today story.
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