San Diego-based Societe Brewing is moving wholesaler networks in California.
Effective January 4, Societe’s offerings will be distributed by Stone Distributing throughout Southern California, Brewbound has learned.
Societe — whose products include The Pupil IPA, The Coachman session IPA and The Harlot Belgian blonde ale — had been with Scout Distributing in its home market of San Diego and Orange County since June 2019. The company also had temporary distribution agreements in Los Angeles and Northern California. However, those temporary agreements expire at the end of the year, and Stone Distributing will become Societe’s sole wholesaler partner, offering the company’s products from Santa Barbara to the border of Mexico.
Societe co-founder and CEO Doug Constantiner declined to comment on the switch.
Stone Distributing and Scout Distribution also declined to comment.
UPDATE (December 16, 3:13 p.m. EST): In a statement after the news was made official, Constantiner said: “Stone Brewing is an institution in the modern beer movement and one of the major reasons why we picked San Diego to open a brewery. It’s an honor to have the ability to partner with them. Being able to fill out our entire footprint in Southern California will give more fans and beer drinkers access to our beer. We strive to make our customers happy and this is a big step in ensuring that.”
Sales reps for Stone Distributing began notifying buyers Friday morning that they would begin carrying Societe products in the new year.
Societe had self-distributed its products for several years before partnering with Scout in 2019. The move places Societe in the portfolio of the largest dedicated craft beer wholesaler in the largest craft beer market in the U.S.
Stone Distributing’s brand portfolio includes Modern Times, Russian River, The Lost Abbey, CANarchy, 21st Amendment, and AleSmith, among others. The craft wholesaler offers a fleet of green diesel refrigerated trucks and cold-chain distribution.
In a conversation in September, Constantiner told Brewbound that his company was looking to accelerate its business after hiring several new employees and installing a canning line. At the time, Constantiner expected Societe’s production to increase to around 7,000 barrels, up from 4,000 barrels in 2019.
Constantiner though is looking beyond volume growth, with a focus on building a “great company.”
“Can we have a place where someone works for us for 30 years, retires and goes, ‘You know what, I’m so thankful to have contributed to Societe. And I’m so thankful for how that company treated me,’” he told Brewbound earlier this year. “That would make me happy on my deathbed.”