Breakout ready-to-drink (RTD) brand Good Boy Vodka will move its California distribution to California Beverage Solution (CBS) this month, the companies announced Wednesday.
The move comes amid Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) winding down operations in the Golden State, shaking up the distribution landscape and leaving suppliers scattering to new wholesale partners. Good Boy Vodka follows Patco Brands, the producer of Rancho La Gloria and Big Sipz, to CBS, a network of primarily Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B) distributors.
Founded by entrepreneur Alex Pratt in 2023, Good Boy Vodka has rapidly expanded nationwide with product lines that span from vodka juice cocktails to spiked tea. The brand has leveraged its celebrity partner – unorthodox golfer John Daly – and a charitable giving program to go wide out the gate and win over national retailers. A portion of proceeds are donated to pet shelter programs, veteran organizations and breast cancer research and awareness.
Good Boy’s lines include Vodka Cocktails (fruit and vodka seltzer), Vodka Lemonade, athlete Travis Pastrana-backed Citrus Circus, and John Daly Cocktails (vodka and iced tea). The John Daly line carved out a niche at the golf course that has bled into retail demand elsewhere – and even made a recent cameo along with Daly in Netflix’s Happy Gilmore 2.
The RTD is now one of four vodka iced tea RTDs that make up 97% of spirits-based tea RTD sales, with sales up 510.3% in the 52 weeks ending June 14, according to NIQ data compiled for BevNET from 3 Tier Beverages. The John Daly Tea Variety 8-pack is the No. 5 dollar volume (more than $2.5 million) spirit-based tea product in the U.S. (excluding Long Island Iced Teas) – averaging 2.5 units sold per store per week in the 13-week period ending June 29, according to Circana data provided by the brand.
“We are extremely excited to be chosen as Good Boy Vodka’s partners in California,” Heimark Distributing president Peter Heimark, a founding member of CBS, said in the announcement. “Good Boy Vodka’s confidence in our ability to help them grow in California is a testament to the enduring strength of local, independent distributors. This partnership reflects everything CBS was created to do, which is to deliver results for fast-rising brands in a way that honors community and local ownership.”
CBS is an alliance between seven California beer and beverage distributors formed in 2023 to provide suppliers a nearly statewide network. The founding seven distributors include six independent A-B distributors, along with one of the largest craft-focused distributors in the country, Hand Family Companies’ Sunset Distributing, which formed through the combination of Stone Distributing, Classic Beverage and a recent deal for Scout Distribution in Los Angeles.
In addition to Heimark and Sunset, founding members include Advance Beverage Company, Donaghy Sales, Markstein Sales Co., Matagrano and Pacific Beverage. The CBS alliance – originally formed to compete with larger, multistate wholesalers such as Reyes Beverage Group, Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits and Breakthru Beverage – now has one less competitor. Other RNDC suppliers with spirit brands and RTD beverages, such as Gallo’s High Noon and Brown-Forman, have shifted their distribution to Reyes Beverage Group.
“California has always been a key market for us, and partnering with CBS was a wise decision,” Pratt of Good Boy said in a release. “Their network not only gives us incredible reach, but their team’s deep knowledge of the market, commitment to relationships, and passion for the product align perfectly with our values.”
The partnership kicks off this month with statewide activations.