What do distributors want in 2025? A survey of 173 distributors from across the U.S. found that middle-tier leaders are seeking:
- Simplification and focus in programs, incentives, SKU counts and administrative tasks;
- Communication and collaboration;
- Engagement and market presence, revealing distributor frustration “with supplier reps who are not physically present or who don’t understand local market realities;”
- A better understanding of markets and localization strategies, including not treating all markets the same and embracing “regional customization, consumer segmentation and local execution support;”
- And supply chain efficiencies, with suppliers taking the lead on fixing their own inventory and logistics issues.
Those answers were among the takeaways from consulting firm Tamarron’s 27th annual Brewer Partnership Compass survey, which offered insights into becoming a “preferred partner,” areas for improvement and the products distributors are buying and also cutting back on. The survey also asks distributors about the performance of eight top suppliers: Anheuser-Busch InBev (A-B), Molson Coors, Constellation Brands, Boston Beer, Heineken USA, Diageo Beer Co., New Belgium Brewing and Mark Anthony Brands.
Distributors listed brewers’ top strengths as:
- Leadership and strategy, including giving clarity on annual goals and field sales;
- Chain execution in large-format retail and chain programming communication;
- And promotional calendar alignment.
The survey also found areas for improvement, including:
- B2B e-commerce support for retailers;
- Selling tools and distributor training;
- And timely brand/SKU rationalization processes.
Tamarron noted that while specific areas improved in the 2025 survey, the overall industry average rating for suppliers declined by 0.06 points compared to 2024. The decline reflects “greater complexity and evolving distributor expectations,” the firm said.
Among the other key takeaways from the survey was which products distributors are bringing in and which ones they’re cutting. A majority of distributors expressed “strong interest” in spirits- and wine-based ready-to-drink cocktails (RTDs), low- and no-alcohol offerings and “a significant jump in THC/Delta-9 beverage exploration,” with nearly half of respondents stating interest in intoxicating hemp products.
Tamarron found that:
- 91.3% of respondents have added spirits-based RTDs;
- 75.7% have added low- and no-alcohol beer, wine and spirits;
- 61.3% have added wine-based seltzers and RTDs;
- 55.5% have added spirits;
- 45.8% have added THC/Delta-9 beverages;
- 32.4% have added wine/wine in cans;
- And 17.9% have added CBD beverages.
At the same time, distributor feedback indicated “pullbacks in regional and local craft brands,” as distributors shift to “more streamlined, strategic portfolios.” The survey found that:
- 64.2% of respondents expect to cut back on regional craft beer SKUs;
- 56.1% expect to cut back on local craft beer;
- 49.7% expect to cull their hard seltzer and FMB portfolios;
- 29.5% expect to prune their national craft beer portfolios;
- 17.3% expect to trim sub-premium;
- And 14.5% plan to cut spirits- and wine-based RTDs.
Boston Beer ranked as the top brewery partner in Tamarron’s 2025 survey, with a score of 4.16, surpassing the firm’s benchmark score of 4.00, which correlates to “often” on the firm’s scale of behavioral consistency.
Molson Coors, which finished first in 2024, fell to third with a score of 4.03. Constellation Brands ranked second with a 4.07 score. Those brewers were the only three of the eight in the survey to surpass the 4.00 benchmark rating.
Notably, Boston Beer and Diageo Beer Co. posted the largest year-over-year (YoY) increases, followed by A-B. Every other supplier in the survey declined.
Constellation Brands and Boston Beer ranked the highest in relationship (96% and 95%, respectively) and partnership (96% and 92%, respectively), receiving the highest percentage of A and B grades.
Heineken USA ranked as the “lowest performing brewer” in “partnership grades by a fairly wide margin,” the firm said.
Tamarron’s analysis of the last five years revealed that “partnership ratings are the strongest predictor of future volume growth.”
“For supplier strategy, this suggests that long-term volume success is most strongly driven by deep, mutual partnerships with distributors, including tactics that are measured by the individual questions and capability categories throughout the survey,” Tamarron wrote.
Meanwhile, Molson Coors, A-B and Boston Beer “scored well on e-commerce capabilities,” but distributors cited concerns on “usability, innovation lag and retailer readiness.”