Distribution Roundup: Consolidation in Iowa, Missouri Beverage Eyes Expansion

7G Distributing, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Anheuser-Busch InBev wholesaler announced that, effective Jan. 1, it will acquire Davenport, Iowa based Vanguard Distributing.

“It was a footprint that’s adjacent to our territory and that made it very attractive. We expect to achieve a number of synergies,” 7G Owner Joe Lee told The Gazette.

The acquisition comes just three years after Cedar Rapids-based Dale Lee Distributing and Dubuque-based Kirchoff Distributing merged to form 7G three years ago.

In addition to selling AB-InBev products, Vanguard distributes a number of craft brands, including Bent River Brewing, Abita, Schlafly, Great River, O’Fallon and BackPocket.

Vanguard will reportedly be rebranded as 7G upon completion of the merger.

Meanwhile, in Idaho, Sandpoint-based MickDuff’s Brewing Co. has signed on with Odom Corporation to begin distributing in the Hayden, Moscow, Lewiston and Coeur d’Alene areas, the brewery announced on Facebook.

MickDuff’s Co-founder, Duffy Mahoney, confirmed to Brewbound that the move comprises the first off-site distribution for the brewpub. The brewery is on pace to produce approximately 700 barrels in 2013, said Mahoney.

In 2014, the brewery hopes to double its production.

“We’re going to shoot for 1,500 barrels,” he said.

Meanwhile, the country’s largest craft brewery — Boston Beer Co. — is gearing up for its nationwide launch of its new, West Coast-style ‘Rebel IPA.’ The beer will be available on draft beginning in January. 6-packs and 12-packs will be available at off-premise retail outlets in following months. 6-packs will have a suggested retail price between $7.99-$9.99.

The beer checks in at 6.5 percent ABV, and was brewed with Chinook, Centennial, Cascade, Simcoe and Amarillo hop varieties.

“We have been making IPAs for a long time but never really done a straight ahead, West Coast IPA, which is what everyone else has been doing,” Jim Koch, Boston Beer Co. founder, said at the time.

Elsewhere, the St. Louis Business Journal reports that Missouri Beverage Co. is eyeing territorial expansion amidst plans to triple its physical space in St. Louis by March.

The article adds that Missouri Beverage hauled in $17 million in revenue last year and company president Bill Reichhardt expects to see that figure double in 2014.

“Our partnership with Wirtz and McLane gives us a lot more resources,” he told the Journal.

In April, Wirtz Beverage formed a joint venture with convenience distributing giant McClane Co. to purchase a minority stake in Missouri Beverage Co.