The Western Brewer Aug. 1916
Consul E. M. Lawton of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in a recent report says:
American bottled beer is imported into Honduras in gradually increasing quantities. During the fiscal year 1914-15, $44,810 worth of beer was imported, of which $42,091 represented shipments from the United States.
Beer is usually introduced into this consular district. through exporting agents in New York, acting either in conjunction with local commission firms here or on direct order to New York from the dealer. All the larger dealers here are importers. The most popular method of packing is in barrels of 10 dozen half-bottles, with prices f.o.b. New York from $6 to $8.75 per barrel. Perhaps one-sixth of all the imports of beer are in quart bottles.
Light beer is usually preferred here. On account of condition in this climate, bottles of dark brown or green glass are preferred. Labels with garish colors are usually preferred, but popular brands always bear the regulation label.
Methods of Advertising Employed.
The brewery here carries a small display advertisement in the local daily paper, but foreign beers have never advertised except by display cards, calendars, or similar matter. No duty is assessed on advertisements of this class when sent by mail in small quantities. By freight, the customs, port, and municipal charges are about 1 cent per pound in American currency. Modest display cards are preferred to large framed lithographs, as the latter are often used for home interior adornment and fail of their intended purpose. It is not objectionable to place a small amount of advertising matter under the barrel heads of bottled shipments.
Packing in straw is satisfactory, although the breakage on such packages is no less than when bottles are placed in individual corrugated-paper cartons. German beers were usually sent here in boxes, but American boxes of 5 dozen half-bottles usually weigh as much as German boxes of 66 or 72 bottles, so that the accepted American packing is in barrels of 10 dozen 10½ – ounce bottles, or 6 dozen quart bottles. The average breakage is about 6 small bottles to the barrel. There is seldom any serious loss from pilfering, and no system of packing seems to have any advantage over another for protection against theft.
The import tariff on beer is 5 cents silver per half kilo, or at the present rate of exchange (Honduras peso worth 40 cents U.S. currency) 2 cents gold for 1.1 pounds. In order to better understand the cost of a shipment from New York to Tegucigalpa, there is given below an actual case of a shipment of 10 barrels of beer, weighing 2,131 pounds: Ocean freight to Amapala, $37.50; customs duty, $38.76; customs surtaxes, $6.78; road and warehouse tax, $3.87; harbor tax, $7.74; receiving charges, $3.24; commission, $4; lighterage to mainland, $6.50; customs policies, checking, etc., $2.70; commission charges at subport, $0.80; freight to Tegucigalpa, $25.50; municipal tax (Tegucigalpa), $8.52; total $145.91.
To this must be added the cost of consular invoice and any brokerage charges at point of shipment, besides deducting for breakages, deterioration, etc. A half-bottle usually retails in this city for 30 cents. A list of importers of beer in the Tegucigalpa consular district may be obtained from the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce at Washington, D.C., or its district offices. Refer to file No. 78193.
Crescent City Brew Talk 