Charlotte BBQ joint to boycott Anheuser-Busch
CHARLOTTE (WTVD) -- A barbeque joint in Charlotte said it won't sell any beers associated with Anheuser-Busch InBev, the Charlotte Business Journal reports. The Queen City Q said the boycott includes its four Charlotte locations as well as any future restaurants it owns or operates.
Bryan Meredith, Queen City Q's managing partner, said the BBQ joint doesn't want to associate with a "company that bullies its competition in the way that AB has chosen to."
Anhueser-Busch recently announced that as part of an incentives program, they could pay distributors up to $1.5 million a year if 98 percent of the beers they sell are A-B InBev brands, according to The Wall Street Journal.
"Paying or offering to pay distributors money not to sell craft beer, whether legal or not, in our opinion is wrong. This harms us and our guests by attempting to limit choices and restrict free trade," Meredith said.
He said the Queen City Q expects their 2016 craft beer sales be over seven figures.
"These brewers who are our friends and neighbors, have been very supportive of our growth and our community, and it's important to us that we stand with them and against this bullying," he said.
