Middle-tier consolidation is off to the races. This week marked the first two distributor deals of the year.
Independent Anheuser-Busch InBev distributor Hensley Beverage struck a deal for Premier Distributing, a fellow A-B house, in neighboring New Mexico that will add around 7.5 million cases to Hensley’s business, the company confirmed to Brewbound. The deal is slated to close in 90 days, pending approvals from suppliers.
A day later, Breakthru Beverage Group signed an agreement to acquire Wine Warehouse, a California-based beer, wine and spirits distributor. The deal is expected to close this spring.
We’re only 20 days into 2023. Buckle up for more.
Sticking in the middle tier, we got a lot more insight into why Sazerac is moving away from RNDC to several beer wholesalers and it’s not just about hitting the c-store channel harder. The Fireball maker alleged that RNDC hasn’t been paying invoices to the tune of $38.6 million and they claim they’ll be owed a whole lot more. Hit the link to read Sazerac’s side of this messy divorce.
On a side note, the Reyes Beer Division, one of the beneficiaries of the Sazerac move in California, Hawaii and parts of Texas, has hired former Breakthru Beverage exec Kyle Dean to lead its spirits efforts.
In other news …
The Super Bowl ad push is in full swing. Molson Coors is taking Coors Light and Miller Lite to the big game, Heineken 0.0 is hitching a ride with Ant-Man, and Anheuser-Busch is focusing on its big four: Michelob Ultra, Bud Light, Budweiser and Busch Light.
One of the worst-kept secrets in the industry went public: New Belgium is reformulating, restyling and rebranding its iconic Fat Tire to be not so amber. Some strong opinions on this one, but as a friend told me, keep every bartender and server in your Ts and Ps as they serve the more golden Fat Tire over the next few months.
The Rock’s energy drink, Zoa, is also getting a makeover, but nobody’s telling Dwayne that they don’t like it.
Monster execs shared more details on The Beast Unleashed flavored malt beverage, which is rolling out in six states before going national.
Two of the beer industry’s most lovable brands are teaming up. Portland, Maine-based Allagash Brewing Company and Inglewood, California-based Crowns & Hops Brewing Co. are releasing Cur-8 next month, a collaboration beer with proceeds going to the 8 Trill Initiative.
The effort to get lower tax rates for lower ABV spirits-based offerings is moving to North Dakota and Washington state. The latter is also considering lowering the legal limit from 0.8 to 0.5. Zoe has the details.
The makers of pouch-packaged alcoholic beverage brand SUNiCE have launched a Fireball Cinnamon competitor: SunShot.
Christmas ($1.74 billion) and New Year’s ($1.48 billion) weeks both topped more than a billion dollars in off-premise sales, according to IRI.
On this week’s Brewbound Podcast, Jess and Zoe did a must-listen interview with leadership development speaker, coach, and consultant Sarah Bettman on the diversity, equity and inclusion topics beverage alcohol companies are facing and how to avoid just “checking off boxes.” Bettman offers some really great insights for industry leaders. Give it a listen and don’t forget to hit the follow button to keep getting the pod in your feeds.
Finally, Jess and Zoe covered the early week headlines, including layoffs at Bhramari Brewing, unionization efforts at Creature Comforts, the cancellation of the Oregon Brewers Festival and Russian River’s return to Seattle.
And that’s a wrap on this week. Thanks to all of you for reading and supporting our work as Brewbound Insiders. If you’re not an Insider, follow the link to subscribe. We’ll be back with more next week.