Brewery Direct Expands Supply Service to 3 North American Markets

SAN ANTONIO — Brewery Direct, a division of Johnson Brothers Bakery Supply Co., is expanding into eight additional states and Ontario, Canada with three strategic partnerships. Baking supply companies based in New Jersey, Wisconsin and Ontario, are now offering malted grains, hops, yeast and specialty ingredients to breweries in their current territories under the Brewery Direct name.

The growth of Brewery Direct comes at a time when small, independent breweries are flourishing across the country, with nearly 6,655 breweries in business as of June 2018, according to industry group Brewers Association. The number of breweries in Canada topped 800 in 2017, with nearly a third of those in Ontario, according to trade organization Beer Canada.

Johnson Brothers discovered that many of the ingredients they carried for bakeries were specialty ingredients small- to mid-size breweries needed for specialty brews, including fruit purees and sugars. It wasn’t much of leap to add quality brewing malts from Germany. That has been especially important for small brewers and craft distillers who need just-in- time delivery because of limited temperature-controlled storage space for raw ingredients.

“All the overhead is covered through our baking supply business, which allows us to hit the brewery market. We already were driving right by the breweries and the commonalities are grains and food and yeast,” said Kevin Johnson, CEO of Johnson Brothers Bakery Supply and Brewery Direct. “The quality of the individual service we give to our customers is a huge factor. It is why Johnson Brothers has been successful.”

To expand Brewery Direct, Johnson and Vice President Jesse R. Reyes, sought partnerships with regional baking supply companies with the same commitment to customer service. All offer customized service with free shipping for any volume of ingredients. The companies joining Brewery Direct are A. Oliveri & Sons of North Bergen, New Jersey (New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and eastern Pennsylvania); Valley Bakery Supply Co-op of Greenville, Wisconsin (Wisconsin, northern Illinois, southern Minnesota and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula); and Traynor’s Bakery Wholesale Ltd. of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Brewery Direct expects to add more partnerships this year to meet the underserved needs of the fast-growing craft brewing industry in more key North American markets.

About Brewery Direct

Founded in 2016 as a division of Johnson Brothers Bakery Supply, Inc., Brewery Direct is a San Antonio-based brewery and distillery supply company providing quality ingredients to breweries in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas with warehouses in Dallas and San Antonio. In 2018, Brewery Direct added warehouses and delivery services in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois and Ontario, Canada. The supply portfolio includes a wide variety of malts and adjuncts, such as sugars, spices and fruit purees, along with hops and yeast. Johnson Brothers, founded in 1994, is the largest Texas-based baking supply company including five Over the Top Cake Supplies stores.