In the Professional Science Master’s program, our courses are designed to prepare students for success. This week, we’re highlighting a newer addition to our catalog—the course Alcoholic Beverage Regulation: Wine, Beer, and Spirits.
A career in the alcoholic beverage industry requires substantial knowledge of both science and business. Students interested in this pathway must know how to start and operate a business, understand the scientific formulation of alcoholic beverages, and know the strict regulations of these products.
Background
This course is co-instructed by two professionals with extensive backgrounds and experience in the industry.
Professor Ronald Levine is a litigation attorney with the Herrick, Feinstein LLP law firm. He has concentrated on defending food and beverage, and consumer product manufacturers in class actions.
Professor Brian Chevlin is Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Pernod Ricard North America. He oversees all legal and regulatory aspects of the company’s legal and compliance operations in the United States, as well as the public affairs team based in Washington, DC. The company’s brands include such significant names as Absolut, Kahlua, Beefeater, Chivas Regal, Glenlivet, Jameson, Mumm, and Perrier-Jouet. Professors Levine and Chevlin have worked together in various capacities for more than 25 years.
Professors Levine and Chevlin use their academic knowledge and industry expertise to provide students with an engaging, work-relevant class—one that includes guest lectures from prominent figures in the industry. Having both taught courses on regulatory law, they developed the course under the guidance of PSM Executive Director Deborah Silver and MBS New Initiative Director Paul Takhistov.
An Inside Look
With a patchwork of more than 4,000 laws and regulations in the U.S., the regulation of wine, beer, and spirits is a complex topic. This course provides an overview of the legal and regulatory systems that govern the production, labeling, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The course focuses on common policies and issues including trade practice restrictions, labeling rules, advertising and social media controls, intellectual property protections, health concerns, and business models. These legal and regulatory principles can apply to all sorts of food, beverage, and consumer products.
In addition to hearing from Professors Chevlin and Levine, who bring academic as well as industry knowledge, students in this course also hear from entrepreneurs, owners and operators of wineries and distilleries, current and former industry executives, and consultants. A number of these guest lecturers are owners and operators of local New Jersey venues. Students are invited to visit these facilities at their own pace and are encouraged to visit other locations in the area to see operations up close.
Putting Learning into Practice
Course assignments encourage students to apply concepts learned and simulate the real-world experience of business consultants helping a new brand get off the ground. For the final project, students are split into teams and tasked with preparing a business plan for a fictional investor. Groups propose a location, celebrity representative, brand name, label design, and marketing plan.
Students assimilate the complex patchwork of federal and state laws and regulations to advise and educate a hypothetical investor on the issue they will confront if they enter the business. Students gain valuable skills such as:
- Advising and educating a hypothetical investor
- Outside-the-box thinking to create a new, profitable brand.
- Writing brief reports for the investor.
- Teamwork, working together as a business team to produce a well-written, organized final project.
While this course provides a strong foundation for a career in the alcoholic beverage industry, the concepts and principles apply to a career in any regulated industry. An understanding and appreciation of government regulation, the protection of intellectual property, advertising and marketing, and business planning are relevant to almost any business career.
With a longstanding connection to the New Jersey wine growing industry, Rutgers is an exceptional institution to explore alcoholic beverage regulation. It also has strong departments in food science, chemistry, and marketing. Take this course and better appreciate the beverages you enjoy daily.